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Jim Thorpe pulls 60 parking tickets following message confusion

Jim Thorpe residents who received a yellow parking ticket between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday can breathe a sigh of relief.

“Due to confusion and various interpretations of the ‘All Call’ phone message that went out Wednesday night, borough council has authorized that the all of the tickets that were issued be pulled,” Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said.

According to police, 60 tickets were issued during the hours in question and are now void based on council’s decision.

The borough’s latest snow ordinance, adopted in 2015, calls for a vehicle ban on the even side of the street in an even numbered year, and on the odd side of the street in an odd numbered year, on the day of a snow event of two or more inches. The following day, parking is banned on the opposite side of the street.

Residents who chimed in on social media took the borough’s message on Wednesday to mean that vehicles were to be moved to the even side of the street between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to avoid a ticket.

“I read the alert as asking residents to have their cars moved and parked somewhere else between those hours so that the street can be plowed then,” wrote Ted Faigle-Kell.

Others expressed confusion at the entire system.

“I am sure glad I don’t live over there with that confusing mess,” wrote Rachel Miller. “At least when I find a spot to park my car on Broadway, it can stay put for a while. From all the annoying borough calls, it sounds like a game of musical chairs over there.”

Before the 2015 ordinance change, the previous system involved one side of the street being cleared of parked cars depending on whether the storm falls on an odd or even day of the month.

According to one of the tickets issued early Thursday, a snow emergency violation results in a $20 fine in the borough.

BOB FORD/TIMES NEWSOne of 60 parking tickets issued in Jim Thorpe Borough between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday that will be void per a borough council decision.Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said council’s decision was based on confusion and various interpretations of the ‘All Call’ phone message that went out Wednesday night.