Resident complains snow from plow was pushed onto sidewalk; mayor says Westbury Avenue is a county road and village will follow up

James McGowan, a resident who identified himself in the public-comment period, told the board that snow pushed from the Water District parking lot landed on his sidewalk and his neighbors’ sidewalks.

"Whoever was plowing that parking lot pushed the snow out of the Water District, of course, Westbury Avenue and onto my sidewalk," McGowan said, giving his address on Westbury Avenue.

Mayor (identified in the transcript as the presiding official) acknowledged the complaint, explained that Westbury Avenue is a county road and that county plowing practices can affect property-fronting sidewalks, and said he had written both the county executive and the county public-works commissioner about road-plowing conditions on several county roads including Westbury Avenue. The mayor told McGowan the village would follow up with its Department of Public Works to prevent future occurrences.

Earlier in the meeting, Department representative O'Keefe described February as "significantly impacted by multiple snow events including ... the major blizzard that required coordinated response efforts between all departments," and said coordination among public works, parking enforcement, building, sanitation and the clerk's office reduced the number of summonses issued and the volume of repeat parking tickets compared with earlier storms.

The mayor said some mistakes occurred during sustained response shifts and called them partly a learning opportunity for newer employees, but accepted responsibility and promised corrective action: "We're gonna make mistakes, and that's on us, and we'll make sure that it doesn't happen again," he said. McGowan said he appreciated the attention.

The board did not take a formal vote on this public comment; the mayor identified intergovernmental coordination with Nassau County as the next step for addressing plowing on county-maintained roads. No timeline for county response or a specific corrective action plan for the village was provided in the meeting record.