Council makes permanent snow-removal law changes

LYNN – City councilors Tuesday voted to permanently put teeth into the local snow-removal law.The amendments, passed on an emergency basis in December, allow the city to attach a lien on properties where tickets for abandonment or failure to remove snow were issued and the fines unpaid.”We can now issue tickets that can become liens. We couldn’t do that before,” said Inspectional Services Department (ISD) Director Michael Donovan. “That’s a key benefit of the law.”According to Donovan, the amendments give ticketing authority for lax snow removal to at least four city authorities – ISD inspectors, police officers, Parking Department meter maids and representatives of the Department of Public Works.”Another change is that people can come to City Hall on two Tuesday nights each month to see a hearings officer if they are challenging the ticket,” he said. “Under the former system, if you were planning to contest the ticket, you had to do it at the courthouse.”City records indicate the stiffest fines for inadequate snow-removal during storm-ridden February were imposed on banks that own foreclosed properties in Lynn.”The banks are by far the biggest recipient of tickets and fines,” said Donovan, city addresses owned by Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Bank of New York, and Countrywide Home Mortgage Co. Some of those properties have been issued tickets for thousands of dollars, he said, acknowledging it can be difficult to collect.The two-family home at 394-396 Eastern Avenue, owned by the Bank of New York, is an example of an abandoned property where the snow is not removed. Fines for abandonment and inadequate snow removal at that address currently total $1,600.According to Donovan, the owner of 80 Almont St. owes $700.Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr said he remains in favor of the amended ordinance, but asked that the ticket-issuing authorities in the city take into consideration corner lots where snow plows tend to pile the banks higher.The law was originally enacted to make it easier for the physically handicapped and those pushing baby carriages to walk safely along sidewalks, he said.Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi, who last week urged the city to purchase additional snow-fighting equipment, said warnings should precede ticketing. “Whether to give a warning is now at the discretion of the issuing authority,” he said.Councilor-at-large Daniel Cahill requested ISD provide the council with an end-of-winter report and a plan for how the situation will be handled next winter.Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano called attention to a failure by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to clear snow from some of its properties in Lynn. He requested the council draft a written recommendation for how to ensure the situation doe not continue.