For Sharon residents wondering who might be responsible for shoveling the sidewalks in town in the event of a winter storm, Sharon Patch recently checked into the matter with local officials. 

The answer?

"During a storm, we have a hand crew that is responsible for sidewalks in the square, specific walkways, and stairs, in town," said Sharon Forestry and Grounds Division Supervisor Kevin Weber. "The equipment they use are shovels, walk-behind snowblowers, and a small track machine with a four way plow called an ASV."

He added, "When the storm is over and all the roads are plowed, the operations division employees begin plowing the town and school parking lots, and sanding the roads," Weber said. "The forestry and grounds division employees begin plowing the sidewalks. Depending on the amount of snow we either use V–plows, or snowblowers mounted on the front of sidewalk tractors."

The V-plows, Weber said, are quick and work well if there is a small amount of snow and crews only need to scrape the sidewalks. If there is more substantial snow, however, the town utilizes snowblowers. The town currently has two tractor-mounted snowblowers.

"This most recent blizzard, our older machine was down several times, and we had to rely on one machine," Weber said. "The guys did a great job clearing the sidewalks in a timely fashion, in order for all residents to walk safely on those specific sidewalks."