RINGTOWN - Borough officials will look into a concern from borough fire Chief Raymond J. Dunsavage about vehicles parking too close to the fire station driveway.
During Monday's borough council meeting, Mayor Albert Breznik Jr. read a letter from the administrative and line officers of the Ringtown Valley Fire and Rescue Company, signed by Dunsavage, about the parking violations.
"The Ringtown Valley Fire and Rescue Company would like the Borough of Ringtown to address the parking issues on Main Street near the fire station," Breznik read. "On the eastern side of the block bordering the fire station, vehicles park on the corner of the alley way and Main Street. These vehicles, in particular, hinder the response time of our apparatus in the event that a piece of apparatus must make a right turn while leaving the station to travel eastward."
The letter then quotes Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 33, Sub-chapter E, Section 3353, which states that "(N)o person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station or, when properly sign posted, on the side of a street opposite the entrance to any fire station within 75 feet of the entrance."
The letter continues with the fire company officials requesting that "these violations be strictly enforced" by the borough and "that swift and proper enforcement is applied to this matter."
Council President Julian Milewski commented on the request by saying any enforcement would apply to everyone at the fire station.
"That being said, I looked over the situation when Albert pointed it out to me," Milewski said. "I won't disagree with the code, but if you go out and look where the upper garage is and the parking lot they (fire company) use, if you (block) 20 feet up and 20 feet down, you're going to block off about a whole block of Main Street for parking."
Milewski, an employee of The Republican-Herald, said the matter should be turned over to the Law and Order Committee so it can meet with Breznik and Dunsavage to discuss the situation.
"Bear in mind that this is a two-way street. Those guys park wherever they want, too," Milewski said. "If that's the case, that's going to end, too. If the general public can't park there, then they're not going to make use of it, either. If it's no parking, it's no parking, and I will request that the mayor enforces that."
Milewski owns a rental property in the vicinity, with tenants parking on the street in the area, so he recused himself from any discussions among the committee members, mayor and fire chief.
Borough solicitor S. John Price asked whether there is a need for any discussions.
"Do we need to do that? (State) code says it's a violation," Price said.
"We don't have signage and we'd have to do a lot of stuff," Milewski said.
In another parking related matter, Breznik asked about designating handicapped parking areas, explaining that Ringtown does not have a policy or procedures for handicapped parking on borough streets similar to what Ashland and Shenandoah have.
Breznik has received a set of guidelines from Ashland about handicapped parking but Price suggested to get a copy of Ashland's handicapped parking ordinance.
"Is this something that we need to think about here?" Breznik asked. "Do people ask us for handicapped parking spaces?"
Borough Secretary Angel Mays said she could only remember one person making a request.
"We can address it on a case-by-case basis," Price said. "You're looking at hundreds of dollars to advertise an ordinance."
"We just want to be fair to everybody," Breznik said.
The council took no action on the handicapped parking situation.