Those Main Street business owners who complained to city officials about businesses that failed to clean snow from their sidewalks in the wake of last week's snowy weather were right in venting their frustration. The city has a snow-removal ordinance; it ought to be enforced.

But last week's storms also reinforced another reality: The city still does not have a plan for adequately addressing winter weather conditions, particularly when it comes to cleanup after a storm.

The city has a councilman in charge of the streets department, and the city employs a streets foreman, so city residents, and non-city residents who work or visit here, are entitled to ask why mediocre responses to winter weather continue to erode the image of this community.

While city workers generally are well-mobilized to spread salt and other anti-skid materials on the streets when snow, sleet or freezing rain is falling, the buildup of snow and ice that continued to impede travel in city neighborhoods a week after the latest storms was evidence of a need for improvement.

To many people, that is indicative of a lack of planning.

While last week's snow and ice events constituted a significant storm, they could not be classified a superstorm. Therefore, city officials can't blame current conditions on extraordinary weather.

But the blame for the continuing problems in the neighborhoods, while city officials have a major responsibility, also must be placed on the shoulders of homeowners. Too many able-bodied homeowners and vehicle owners have been content to wait for the city to do something — or to wait for spring to arrive — rather than pick up a shovel and clear snow and ice from their sidewalk and from the parking space in front of their home.

People here like to talk about Butler Pride, but there still is not enough evidence of that pride in most city neighborhoods this many days after the last snowfall.

A week after the storms, there were vehicles in virtually every neighborhood that remained covered with last week's snow and ice.

Even if the city had an effective plan for dealing with cleanup after a major snowstorm, it would be difficult to do so with so many vehicles blocking snow removal crews from doing their job.

A plan should be in place for ordering all vehicles to be removed from selected neighborhood streets for a span of several hours to allow for snow and ice removal. An example of what can be done was in place on Jefferson Street Monday evening when temporary no-parking signs were attached to utility poles and parking meters in advance of curbside snow removal.

Such restrictions are possible in most neighborhoods — if city officials are dedicated to such an effort.

In the business district, the city council was right in dispatching police Chief Tim Fennell to remind business owners of their responsibility. But now that the reminders have been issued, the city should not be reluctant to impose penalties if more bad weather arrives and similar conditions reoccur.

Pedestrians and motorists should not be routinely endangered by conditions that can be improved by everyone pitching in.

Amid all of this, it must be acknowledged that the city streets department does not have as many workers as it formerly employed, and that imposes limitations. However, that does not prevent development of a better plan for dealing with a significant snowstorm.

That the city council hired Wiest Asphalt and Paving to remove snow from the business district during the early hours of Saturday was a bright spot amid the otherwise lackluster scenario. But what about also mobilizing county jail prisoners for snow-removal work in the neighborhoods under the supervision of Sheriff's Office deputies?

As with other communities, there are many elderly people in Butler who would have difficulty shoveling snow. But with some neighbor-helping-neighbor efforts, the city's sidewalks could be in better shape.

Not enough of that was evident in response to last week's storms.

Butler wasn't the only place to encounter worse-than-necessary difficulties related to last week's weather. Late last week, Gov. Ed Rendell apologized for the state's lackluster response to a 50-mile traffic jam on an icy Interstate 78.

Rendell stepped up and acknowledged a failure, vowing it would not be repeated. When it comes to the city's snow removal situation, two of the people who ought to be talking about improving the city's response are Councilman Mitch Ufner, who heads the streets department, and Ralph Graham, the streets foreman.

It has to be acknowleged that the city cannot clear every street to every resident's satisfaction, but there can be improvements.

The city probably hasn't seen the last of challenging weather this winter, and the current respite does present the opportunity for the city to be better prepared next time. The important question is: Will it be?