Wheatland to impose new parking restriction

Ordinance relates to commercial vehicles

By Jason Arndt
Editor

The Wheatland Town Board adopted new parking restrictions related to commercial vehicles at its Dec. 11 regular meeting after staff received sporadic complaints throughout the municipality.

According to Wheatland Town Chairman William Glembocki, commercial vehicles cropped up in Slades Corners, and later emerged in another area of the municipality.

“We have had this problem before, now we are just covering the whole town,” said Glembocki.

The restriction applies to vehicles more than 12,000 pounds on public streets, parks or other right-of-ways, the new ordinance states, which indicated one exception.

The lone exception, according to Glembocki, is for deliveries and drivers who only plan to stay in the area to for purposes of visiting a business.

The purposes, he said, include eating at a local establishment, but the commercial vehicles must be removed within a reasonable time.

For motorists who do not adhere to the new ordinance, they will receive a notice of violation from the town officer or constable within five days of the offense, the ordinance states.

Forfeitures will range from $25 to $50 and up to towing of the vehicle at the owner’s expense.

Town to mull vehicle options
In a discussion item, the Town of Wheatland Volunteer Fire Department proposed the replacement of a nearly 50-year-old Chevrolet brush truck, which has problems with oil leakage.

The 1968 truck is used primarily for fighting off-road brush and grass fires.

“The concerns with it are that it is leaking oil, badly, and that is because the seals on the engine are drying out,” said Fire Chief Lou Denko. “The valves are leaking every time we start the truck.”

Additionally, Denko said the truck has outdated features, like a four-speed stick shift and lap belts.

“It only has lap belts… technically it is not even compliant any more,” he said.

Although Denko proposed purchasing a replacement, he told the town board the department plans to keep costs down, noting it will only be used for grass fires.

Denko, who explored options, said he found a 2017 used Dodge power wagon with 13,000 miles.

“We don’t want to spend a lot of money,” he said. “We don’t want to invest a lot for a grass truck.”

Denko, who said he does not plan to buy the 2017 vehicle, recommended the board seek request for proposals from three authorized dealers to determine the best price.

Once the town receives proposals, the town plans to brings the item before the board as soon as February, 2018.


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