Homepage

Syracuse Fine from Snowplowing without license increases Snowplow

By Jose Lara Montenegro

{Anchor:xxx/ type of shot}
Winter is approaching, and the city of Syracuse has already had its fair share of snow. N-C-Cs Jose Lara tells us about modifications of a law that is taking place along with the snow. Jose

(REP LIVE INTRO)
That’s right, the snow is upon us and with that, many snow-related jobs like snowplowing. With that in mind, the Common Council has decided this year they will be stricter with snowplowers that do not follow regulations
{*** Take PKG ***}
(DURATION: 1:34)
(OUTCUE: during the last winter.)
[TAKE SOT
OUTCUE: thankful for them
DURATION: 0’09”]
(I live in a place where someone comes to plow our snow, our parking lot, they come to do that, so I’m thankful for them.)

(Track 1)
There are more than 20 different snowplowing business around the city, some people would say that’s too many, however, there’s a specific reason for it

{*** SOT FULL ***}
[TAKE SOT
OUTCUE: to do it themselves
DURATION: 0’10”]
(Syracuse NY is the snowiest city in the United States, averaging about 130 inches of snow every year. So, there’s a lot of contractors or a lot of people that they just want to do it themselves.)
(Track 2)
Many people want to work as snowplowers on their own. However, some of them never get a license to do it and if they are caught, the law will be fined.
[TAKE SOT
OUTCUE: used to pay DURATION: 0’16”]

(Track 3)
The total of the fine is 350 dollars. When the Common Council approved the law, they mentioned they had given up 12 tickets last year. However, some think they are much more snowplowers that do not have a license.
Boondocker equipment sells snow accessories, including snowplows. Owner Tyler Arsenal says many of his costumers are not happy about the extra fee.
[TAKE SOT
OUTCUE: do their job DURATION: 0’07”]

(Track 4)
Only time will tell how if there are more or fewer fines than during the last winter.
(REP LIVE TAG)
According to reports, more than 30 people were licensed for snowplowing last year. I am Jose Lara, N-C-C News.
{Anchor: xxx / type of shot}
The Common Council approved the modifications to the fee, at the end of last month, by a vote of 7 to 1; Councilor Joe Carni was the only one to oppose.

Syracuse is the snowiest city in the country. With that, however, come different activities and jobs that can only be done in the snow, including snowplowing.

There are more than 20 snowplowing places near Syracuse. With that in mind, not anyone can snowplow the city of Syracuse. People need to get a license to be authorized. If someone is snowplowing without a license they will be fine. That’s when the new rule comes in handy, before the fine used to be $150, however, the change has made it into $350. 

Boondocker equipment sells snow accessories, including snowplows. Owner Tyler Arsenal has been selling snowplows to costumers for more than 4 years. He says people disagree and that snowplowers do not see a point in paying for another license.

“I have heard my costumers complaining because is one more cost they have to pay to do their job,” Arsenal said. “The winter is always busy when you are in this business.”

However, Director of Operations Corey Driscoll Dunham said it didn’t make sense since the $150 fine, was less than the price of the license. With this change he expects more people to respect a law that last year led to more than 30 people getting their snow plowing license.

The Common Council will keep an eye on the given out tickets since that would be another criterion to see if this law change worked. This is since last year, they gave out a total of 12 tickets to people snow plowing without a verified license.

Related Articles