As Nesquehoning continues to dig out from the most recent winter storm, borough officials are thankful for the way departments and residents are working together to clear roadways.

On Wednesday, borough council spoke about the aftermath of the storm that dropped over a foot of snow on the area, creating a parking nightmare for residents.

“I want to thank all of public safety, the police and all our fire companies for the recent storm, being on standby, the extra calls and for everything you do,” Councilwoman Lois Kuba said.

Council President Bruce Nalesnik also added the fire police into the list of those who went above and beyond.

“They stayed out there,” he said.

Police Chief Brad Hess echoed the council members’ thoughts, saying that for the most part, residents moved their cars so crews could clear the streets.

“I saw a lot of people helping people out and working together to get cars moved,” Hess said. “Even with the snow removal, when people heard the loaders, everybody came out and asked if they should move their car.”

He also commended the fire police, who were a “huge help” to police, standing out there to direct traffic as crews worked to remove snow.

“Those guys stuck through it all,” Hess said.

Nalesnik also pointed out that so far, it has been a communitywide effort, from borough employees to residents and businesses chipping in to help.

He pointed out that Panther Creek Partners sent in a front-end loader and driver to help remove snow along Catawissa Street and publicly thanked them for that help.

Fire hydrants

Kuba also thanked the fire companies’ volunteers who went around Monday evening to dig out the fire hydrants in the event of a fire and need for water.

“They spent hours out there doing it,” she said.

Kuba encouraged residents to help the volunteers by shoveling around the hydrants in future storms so the firefighters don’t have to do it.

“I hope in future storms that we can get the public to adopt these fire hydrants and take some of that off these guys. They do enough of being out,” she said. “What they did the other night was above and beyond. We should be helping with that.”

Clearing continues

Nalesnik said that now that Catawissa Street has been cleared, the borough will begin removing snow from other areas of the town.

“We’re going to try and remove snow as we can on side streets in the next week or two,” he said. “We’ll continue as we see piles and spots as time allows. ... We just ask for people’s patience. If we get another storm, please be mindful of your neighbors. ... I just ask for respect and consideration of your neighbors with regards to throwing snow piles in different places.”