Fountain Hill Mayor Jose Rosado thanked council, public works, administration and residents for their efforts clearing snow this winter at the March 3 Borough Council meeting.

But not everyone on council found the snow removal satisfactory. Councilperson Helen Halleman complained that "not one inch of snow is being moved" on her block of Bishopthorpe Street. "I am very disappointed." She continued, "What's the problem here? There's no grass [for public works] to cut this time of year."

Councilperson Fred Capuano responded, saying the public works department has been removing snow every day but the snow has turned to solid ice. Capuano explained the process had been difficult so far, mentioning the public works laborers had been working 16-hour days, 5 or 6 days in a row. He said the borough has one backhoe and one loader and five workers and that the places the snow is normally dumped are already filled.

Halleman suggested the work needed to be done more efficiently or that the borough should contract it out.

Capuano countered that the borough had spent three-and-a-half days and $15,000 clearing Delaware Avenue alone and there was not money in the budget to hire contractors to clear every street. Public works employees had spent 811 hours clearing snow in February according to Capuano's report. "You have to have a little bit of patience," he told Halleman.

Resident Maryann Salabsky, of the 1000 block of Seneca Street, also expressed frustration with the snow removal, saying, "I understand a lot of man hours were spent," but that her street was icy and she had trouble getting to work. Salabsky expressed frustration that she was working to pay the taxes that plow other people's streets.

Council President Larry Rapp responded that there had been record snowfalls and difficulties moving snow around the borough.

Capuano added they had run out of salt to melt the ice and were using cinders and sand to provide additional traction on the icy roads. He said the plows could not get down many streets because of how people had parked.

Rapp did say he would talk to the public works department about Salabsky's concerns.

Trying to address year-round traffic concerns, Don Seiple, vice president of operations at St. Luke's Hospital, and attorney Erich Schock, came to the meeting to ask permission for a traffic study to determine the viability of reopening Mohican Street, a one-way street, to two-way traffic.

"We are looking for ways to manage the traffic around campus," said Seiple, adding the study would be done at St. Luke's Hospital's expense. A previous plan to build a road connecting the St. Luke's campus to Riverside Drive has been abandoned because Norfolk Southern Roailroad, the owner of the train track the proposed road would cross, was not willing to strike a deal, according to Seiple.

Capuano, a former member of the Fountain Hill Police Department, said the road had been made one way because in the 80s when Mohican had been a two-way street Delaware [Avenue] back-ups would cause accidents where Mohican Street and Delaware Avenue meet.

Rapp approved the study and Seiple said he would return if the findings were positive.

Richard Krasley, who has been a part-time officer for the Fountain Hill Police Department for three years, was hired and sworn in as a full-time patrol officer with the unanimous support of borough council. Mayor Rosado called Krasley a very strong candidate, mentioning his years of good service and that he was at the very top of the civil service list. Krasley will begin work immediately.

Fountain Hill's Bacchanalia Committee presented council with a $10,000 donation, of which $1,000 had come directly from Air Products, for Fountain Hill's recreational facilities.