CONNOQUENESSING TWP — At their monthly meeting Wednesday night, March 4, supervisors amended the township’s ordinance on snow removal from streets and sidewalks in the event of a major snowstorm.

All township residents with sidewalks will be required to clear them of snow within 24 hours of a snow event, and township residents will also be prohibited from dumping snow and ice from their property onto roads.

Supervisors said the amendment is aimed at enhancing safety for motorists.

Township Supervisor Angela Fleeger said the need for the amendment came about as a result of the major snowstorm that struck Western Pennsylvania in late January, dumping over a foot of snow on Butler County.

“We had several instances where we had residents pushing their snow out of their driveways onto the main road, creating safety issues for drivers in our township, as well as the plow truck drivers,” Fleeger said. “So that’s where we were looking at tightening up the ordinance.”

Prior to the adoption of the amendment, the chapter of the township’s code of ordinances relating to streets and sidewalks contained no references to snow or ice.

The language of the amendment applies only to township-owned roads and streets, township solicitor Andrew Menchyk said.

Supervisors briefly considered extending the time window for removing snow from sidewalks to 48 hours before deciding on 24 hours.