The winter weather has brought icy conditions to the city’s downtown core.
Thorold resident, Ray Thombs, is ringing the alarm bell because he’s worried that not every business owner is doing their due diligence and putting down salt.
“There's solid ice that hasn't been touched all winter,” Thombs tells ThoroldToday. “I sent a letter to the City of Thorold and I have heard nothing back from them.”
Thombs specifically points to the intersection of Front Street and Albert Street West, around the now-closed Karma Kamaleon Gastropub.
“That specific area is probably the worst,” he says. “It has built up from the initial dose of snow and everything else that's gone on since the middle of January.”
City Hall tells ThoroldToday it is up to the business owners to take care of their sidewalk.
“City of Thorold Public Works salts all the downtown core roads in the BIA and surrounding areas,” they write. “It is up to the business owner to salt their stretch of sidewalk.”
They stress that, even if a building is vacant, the onus is still on the property owner to put down salt.
When reached for comment, a representative of the Thorold BIA said that discussions with the Mayor have been ongoing about combating icy conditions in front of unoccupied properties in the downtown core.
The BIA also sent out an email to its members reminding them to shovel and salt their sidewalks.
As for Thombs, he just hopes somebody steps up to take care of the issue.
“There's a lot of foot traffic in that area,” he says. “I've seen people slipping and I just hope no one's gotten hurt so far.”