This winter's snowstorms, and ways in which they've affected the borough and its residents, took center stage at Thursday night's Walnutport workshop meeting.

The council first discussed the difficulty it had in cleaning up the latest snowfall on Wednesday because it was so heavy.President Matthew Newhard said he wished residents better understood the complexities of plowing the streets, especially during this type of snowfall then asked, "If you can park your car off the street (during snowfalls), please do."Continued talk of snow led to a discussion about possibly using an auto-call system to alert residents for such things as heavy snowfall events, with Mayor Wayne Weidner later noting that Pennsylvania Governor Corbett had, indeed, declared Wednesday's snowstorm a disaster emergency.The discussion also eventually led to Newhard saying he hopes council members will take a ride with the road crews when they plow so they can see several small alleyways that the borough may want to consider releasing to private ownership so it will no longer be responsible for plowing them.In other news, Weidner announced a "meet your public officals" day from 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Diamond Fire Company's Social Hall. He encouraged council members, along with police officers, borough workers, firefighters and, of course, the general public, to attend the donation-only event that will include free food and music.In addition, Northern Lehigh High School Spanish teacher Ashlie Eckert asked council to allow

S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions), which she advises, to use the Walnutport Playground pavilion at a reduced rate.Eckert said they would like to hold a youth festival, called "The Butterfly Project: Helping Our Youth to Spread Their Wings" this coming May 17 from 1 to 5 p.m. as part of a nationwide effort known as the "My Life My Choice Campaign 2013-2014".Council noted that local non-profit groups are often allowed to use the pavilion for free and that it would extend the same courtesy to

S.A.D.D. so long as the group cleaned up afterward and paid for any possible damage it may incur.Eckert thanked the council.Council later discussed the Walnutport Canal Association building, known as the WCA Heritage Center, that is still under construction by volunteers.Newhard noted the association wants to grant the public ever more access to the building; however, the building only holds a permit to allow for storage and limited office use.He said that if the uses for the building change considerably, then the building will need to be re-permitted.