While praise was heaped on Summit Hill's workforce for their efforts on handling the 2016 blizzard this past weekend, complaints were aired against the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the state agency's handling of the snow that closed a state highway in the borough on Jan. 12.

Summit Hill Borough Council said it complained not only to PennDOT, but to state Rep. Jerry Knowles of Tamaqua about the slow response of PennDOT to open the Route 902 hill between Summit Hill and Lansford. The slippery conditions on the hill had school students stuck on buses at the bottom of the hill and in their classrooms for over an hour after schools were dismissed.When a PennDOT truck finally responded, it slid on the hill and struck an unoccupied school bus and a fuel truck.Council member David Wargo said prior to the Jan. 12 storm, PennDOT had pre-treated roads in Lehigh County but he didn't see any pre-treated in Carbon County.Wargo contacted Knowles, who wrote a letter to the council saying he has demanded an explanation on the matter from the district engineer of PennDOT.One reason Wargo was upset is because on Nov. 27, 2012, there were vehicles, including school buses, stuck at the top of the same hill for nearly three hours waiting for PennDOT to care for the icy condition.Wargo said after that incident, PennDOT said it would making maintaining Route 902 a priority.Summit Hill Chief of Police Joe Fittos said that the problem on Jan. 12 occurred because there was a mist that froze on the road surface.He said there were problems at numerous locations, including Route 309.Councilman John O'Gurek said the incident happened during the day so PennDOT crews should have been on-duty.He said he had to go to Jim Thorpe that day and that PennDOT "did a perfect job in the Jim Thorpe area."Council members said during the blizzard, PennDOT did a good job at maintaining its roads within the borough.