The unrelenting series of February snowfalls has obviously presented a burden on all local municipalities, so naturally it became a point of discussion at Monday’s meeting of Summit Hill Borough Council. Most crippling was the Feb. 2 storm which dumped over 2 feet of snow throughout most of the region.

Summit Hill’s emergency management coordinator, Kevin Steber, said the storm was one of the worst in years in the borough; possibly the worst since 1996.

He graded the overall handling of that storm by the borough - including borough employees and the police department - with a “B-plus.”

Steber said, the major problem the borough had during those storms were people joy riding while the public works department was attempting to do plowing.

Another problem is parking, he said. The borough has an ordinance mandating that cars be moved off the streets during a snowstorm on the south and east sides of the streets until curb plowing is completed. After that, on the following day, plowing to the curb will occur on the opposite side of the street.

“We need help getting word out in the community,” he said.

The main priority in plowing is making the streets passable not only for the residents, but for large vehicles like firetrucks and ambulances.

He urged the council to work on updating its winter parking ordinance for next year.

Council member Michael Alabovitz agreed with Steber.

Alabovitz said snow removal had occurred on some of the narrow streets. Because snow removal is expensive, it couldn’t be done on all the streets.

He said regarding the borough’s handling of the storms, “I think things went as well as they could. A lot of towns are in a lot worse shape than this one was.”

He said the signs explaining winter parking rules “to me are pretty clear.” Alabovitz said if you aren’t going to be home for a period of time and you have a vehicle parking on the street, to leave the keys with a neighbor so it can be moved for snowplowing.

Steber suggested the borough meet with the fire chief and borough supervisor to discuss the possibility of banning parking in some alleys during the winter months.

Alabovitz said this would present an inconvenience to some residents, but on the other hand, some alleys are too narrow for the passage of emergency vehicles when parking occurs in the winter.

Steber said updated information on snow plowing and parking restrictions are updated daily on the borough’s Facebook page.

Council member David Wargo presented to the council a proposed set of procedures to be following in regard to snowstorms. The council will study the recommendations and discuss them at a future date.

Copies of the suggested procedures will also be given to the police sergeant and road supervisor for input.

Wargo’s proposal gives procedures for activating the road crew during a snowstorm, it lists a chain of command during the storm regarding who is in charge, and outlines ticketing and towing procedures.

“It’s meant to be commonsense guidelines,” Wargo said.