OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen
Village Trustee Drew Ransom made a strong statement at a recent meeting regarding the on-street parking law in the village.
BROCTON — The Village of Brocton will take on-street parking violations seriously this year – so seriously, in fact, that even Village Board members are not afraid of being held accountable.
“November 1, if my car is parked out there, tow mine first,” Village Trustee Drew Ransom said. “… If it’s still there, come and tow it.”
The Village reserves the right to tow vehicles under its local law restricting on-street parking. Warning notices have been issued in the past, but more than a year after putting a law in place and a whole year of discussion since has led the Village to become less patient with continuous offenders. While the Highway Department has the ability to write tickets for offenders, enforcement has been an issue raised dating back to before the law was even enacted. The Highway Department also does not have extra staff available to be writing tickets on top of the plowing duties during storms.
So instead of worrying about enforcement, the Village is taking a different tone on the matter. If you park on the street, you will be towed.
“If you towed a few cars, word would get around, and that might cure the problem,” Village Attorney Peter Clark said.
The matter is an issue of safety for the Highway Department during winter months when plowing snow. Vehicles parked on Village streets make it much more difficult for the Highway Department to plow the roads and also avoid damaging vehicles.
Through the local law and warnings last year, the issue did improve, but it is still an issue.
“Last year, we had less vehicles parking in the trouble areas than we ever had,” Highway Superintendent Ken Becker said.
Mayor Craig Miller added, “It is not a monster problem in the village, it’s probably a select few that we just have to correct. Once we correct these people, maybe it will fix the problem.”
Before the streets are cleared out, they will be full of children parading around the village in search of candy for Halloween. Village Trick-or-Treat hours are 5-7:30 p.m. on Halloween night. Ransom also followed up on a previous matter he proposed to the Village. He proposed the purchase of a new sign for Ryckman Park, which the Board approved at a cost of $460.
The Village will continue to evaluate the purchase of security cameras to provide surveillance around the park and the surrounding streets. Criminal activity has been reported by several residents in recent months in the area, including menacing behavior from area youth and theft of transformers around the Village. More discussion regarding the matter is expected at a later date.