In an attempt to squelch confusion over its new parking rules, Lehighton plans to revise recently approved changes to its snow ordinance.

On a 5-1 vote, borough council on Monday agreed to change the borough's snow ordinance to give residents from midnight to 7 a.m. to move their vehicles to the appropriate side of the street when a snowfall of 3 inches or more is forecast by the National Weather Service. Councilman Joe Flickinger was opposed. Councilman Darryl Arner was absent.However, borough Manager Nicole Beckett noted the changes won't go into effect until council amends the ordinance when it meets at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23.In the meantime, Beckett said the borough will not enforce the changes, but would like the public to get in the habit of moving their vehicles between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m.Should a major snowfall occur between now and that time frame, Beckett urged residents to be on the lookout for orange no parking signs, as curb-to-curb plowing will still take place.Any resident who does not receive rapid response calls from the borough is asked to contact them and provide their contact information, Beckett said.Before council's action, resident Carl Teets suggested that the borough consider moving the time to 7 a.m..Councilman John Kreitz said that was his thought as well, as borough residents had previously been accustomed to that time."I think we need to make a motion to change the time on our snow ordinance," Kreitz said. "We have a confusion right now in our community."Flickinger contended that he believes the borough should wait until winter is over, and conduct a list of pros and cons.Not to be dismayed, Kreitz remained steadfast that the borough should change the snow ordinance "because we've already had feedback."Kreitz then suggested that it be changed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. for residents to move their vehicles to the appropriate side of the street."We have to bring it back to the way the public is used to," he said. "It's (the changes) going against the natural grain (of what everybody else expects)."Councilman Scott Rehrig, who was not at the meeting but participated via video conference, said he agreed with Kreitz, and added that he believed the most important thing was for council to take action so that it has something in effect.Last month, the borough announced several changes to its snow ordinance that went into effect with the borough's first significant snowfall in an effort to improve snowplowing and snow removal in the borough to make travel safer.At that time, the borough announced changes that would go into effect with the first forecast snowfall of 3 inches or more.But those changes caused confusion for borough residents, who weren't sure of the new parking rules and contended that no curb-to-curb plowing took place during this past weekend's snowstorm.