They put up those signs to try to limit their liability in case of accident or injury. One of their tenants fell down the icy stairs at one of their properties and ended up in the hospital. They could have cared less, refused to talk to her then informed the tenant that she and all tenants are to take care of icy/snowy conditions on their properties, even though it was the opposite in her contract. The wealthy trying to absolve themselves of any liability yet take all of our hard earned money. There have been a number of complaints directed at that family, on hear no less, yet the city has done nothing. Sad state of affairs.

The city is not responsible for snow and ice removal on private property. DPW will investigate the impacts of falling snow and ice onto the sidewalk.

Snow is falling onto private porch stairs.

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So city officials can block content? Your name is literally listed on our city website. Your response was in an official capacity. Isn't that was this site is for? To report things and obtain assistance? You work for us not the other way around. Why would me pointing out an incredibly rude comment by a city official be a bad thing? Who else can I get to help with this issue? Making fun of the citizens that pay your salary isn't a road I would go down when you don't even live here yet reap the benefits of our fabulous pay, pay that apparently makes you above citizen requests. You are going to be reported to city council with screen shots of your snarky and unhelpful response. I am so very sorry that treating us Burlington residents like crap makes you feel powerful.

The city IS repsonsible for citing property owners for negligence and for violating lease conditions ~ especially ones that endanger the public at large, which is what is happening when piles of snow and sheets of ice fall from the rooftops of their properties, onto the sidewalk. Signage alone about the dangers of falling ice really ought not to be a loophole. Code Enforcement might be a better resource for this complaint since this matter is in their wheelhouse.

Adding to this: The OP was simply asking that the city step in on a huge problem, as landlords are quite literally not doing their job up violating contractual agreements (snow clean-up=yeah right) therefore violating the very contract they give you. Asking the city to step in would be another officials job, but most certainly NOT the DPW Excavation Inspectors job. In no way shape or form does your job description allow you to have the power to help tenants or be involved in matters regarding law, public safety or contractual rights. I do not think that "Excavation, Curb Cuts, Obstruction, Sandwich Boards, Blasting, etc." has anything to do with forcing a landlord to abide by their contractual agreements and making it safe for you to even live on their property. You are not a lawyer, involved in public health and safety nor a city council member and have zero credentials to weigh in on matters regarding tenants vs. landlords and snow/ice removal.

Whoever the "you" is that SB keeps referring to in a hostile manner. Code Enforcement and Legal Aid can both assist in putting pressure on Burlington City landlords who do not honor their own lease conditions, such as trash removal, snow and ice removal, etc. If the "you" SB is referring to is me: I am an official advocate, on a few levels, for vulnerable populations ~ including but not limited to ~ dealings with their landlords and their legal rights in re: to housing. I don't see any need for the energy here to slump down to that of an insult-fest. The issue needs addressing. There are better channels than appealing to the DPW. I am aware of them. I listed them. I am sympathetic to the plight of those who have to contend with the negligence of landlords when nevigating either their rental properties or the public sidewalks aurrounding them. If clearing the ice and snow is in the lease, listed as the landlord's or property management company's responsibility, electing not to attend to the ice and snow that falls from the roof onto the surfaces that are supposed to be cleared and maintained and it compromises the safety of a tenant (or member of the public), that is negligence and a violation of the lease. It also opens up the potential of a lawsuit, should someone ~ especially a tenant ~ become injured due to the ice and snow on that property. For those who think this is twitter or facebook and want to make it personal... take it somewhere else.

AandALodestone, This was not directed to you at all! Your statement is right on and is what I was trying to get through to the city to begin with. My other comments were referring to the city official that responded the way they did with their unhelpful and snarky comment. I told them that landlord abuse is in fact a problem but also listed their name and their official capacity, even though I don't even know who that person is. Apparently the city official didn't like being called out for that and had it deleted. I am glad you are an advocate for vulnerable populations. That is awesome. We are on the same side! The city does need to do a better job at protecting tenants. Landlords have been made to feel empowered and for the most part run our town. I did not mean to come across as hostile. Angry at that city official? Yes. Angry at the city for not helping when this ice/snow safety problem is reported over and over? Yes. That officials response simply told the OP that tenants rights and public safety is stupid and to get over it. What if the OP was talking about Decker Towers and the city responded that way? If the city stands by that individuals response then that is just plain sad. What SeeClickFix is not is an avenue for is to be rude to the tax payers that pay that individuals salary. To the people that live and breath Burlington. There have been other official responses that have been as rude or worse to other things. Most complaints against the Bissonettes go missing days after being posted. Same thing happens with Decker Towers complaints and those owners live off of Section 8 housing vouchers. Those tenants deserve better. Angry should be a side affect of our city doing nothing. Side note: Knocking twitter and fb for being great outlets to expose city officials abusing their positions and treating tax payers like crap is not the road to go down either. Vulnerable populations use media to bring awareness to injustice. Again, sorry that you thought I was referring to you. You are one of the good ones.

You are receiving this message because you have previously (or perhaps just now) submitted a request on SeeClickFix. We're excited to let you know that we are now implementing a comprehensive asset management program which is a mostly "behind the scenes" effort. This will enable more efficient, more effective and more fiscally sound infrastructure management. Nothing changes for you and we'll continue to use SeeClickFix, but we have had to automate a process to connect our open SCF requests with our asset management program. There may be the occasional bug to work out, but rest assured that your issue is still in queue and assigned to the right City staffer. Once this initial round of automation is through in about a week, we'll revert back to our standard messages on SeeClickFix.

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