A Coplay Borough ordinance addressing residential snow removal requirements will be voted on at the Coplay Borough Council meeting March 11.

Regulations already state that property owners must remove snow and ice from sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowfall. The proposed ordinance revision will also make it unlawful for anyone to place snow and ice from a property onto any street, alley, gutter or sidewalk.

In the case of a violation, the borough must first go through a lengthy process of issuing a warning, sending a certified letter and issuing a notice of violation before a fine can be levied.

A proposed revision to the ordinance under consideration will state that if a property comes into violation again within 24 months of an original violation, these preliminary steps may be waived and the borough may fine the property owner immediately.

Finally, the proposed revision states the current fine will be changed to include a minimum of $100 for a first offense and a minimum of $200 for a second offense. The $600 fine maximum will remain the same.

The challenges of recent snow emergency situations brought about a heated discussion at the meeting.

Resident Terri Holderman posed a question that started a heated discussion.

Holderman wanted to know if residents were allowed to park in the Commitment to Families and Community parking lot. She wanted some clarification because up until the last snowstorm, residents of Cherry Street had been allowed to park their cars in the lot during a snow emergency. She said that the signs posted there did not state what would happen if a resident parked there.

Council President Lou Bodish stated when there are red signs posted in the parking lot, residents are not allowed to park there because the parking spaces are needed for a CFC event. Violators are ticketed by borough police.

Councilman Charles Sodl asked who was responsible for putting up the signs.

Mayor Joseph Bundra said it is the borough's responsibility to take care of the building and its parking lot.

Sodl than prompted discussion about the possibility of building a parking lot in that neighborhood for residents.

The conversation continued to bounce back and forth, and included discussion of whether or not there is room for additional parking lots, then back to who is responsible for posting signs in the CFC lot, and finally to discussion about plowing snow emergency routes.

Ultimately, the idea to create an additional parking lot was dropped, and there was no official resolve as to who should post signs at the CFC lot.