CLEVELAND — Cleveland homeowner Henri Ratcliff and some of his neighbors are tired of dealing with what they called repeated lawn and concrete damage near their W. 40 Street homes, city service department drivers have caused problems, they report.
Ratcliff showed News 5 home surveillance video of a full-sized Cleveland snowplow truck driving through his side and tree lawns on New Year's Day. Ratcliff said the damage is such a chronic problem he and his neighbors have set up reflective markers and cones to send a message to service department drivers, but he said it hasn't helped.
“It kind of makes me feel sad because this wouldn’t happen in the suburbs, but it happens at the dead end of a street here in Cleveland, and it’s just not fair cause I live here and I don’t want to have to look at this mess," Ratcliff said. "When I saw the city worker right before he plowed over everything, I asked him what is he doing, but he looked me right in the eye and just drove off."
W. 40 Street resident Miguel Nevarez told News 5 that this is far from the first time a city service crew caused damage.
"This is where the water company broke the line and the city had to come down here and fix it," Nevarez said. "And now the plow operators are driving over the repairs. Drivers, literally just take the training and figure out what you have to do to do your job right.”
The City of Cleveland quickly responded to our story and issued the following statement:
“There is nothing we value more than providing the best services to our residents. We have fixed lawns and repaired sidewalks in the past for other incidents which we've been at fault. We'll certainly look into this incident and, if necessary, take appropriate actions to ensure we're doing right by those whom we serve — our residents.
The residents on this street, or any residents throughout the City, can report concerns by calling 311."
Cleveland residents can monitor snowplowing coverage and report streets that need to be cleared by calling 311 or using the live snow mapthat is operating during city snow events.
Meanwhile, Ratcliff is hoping the city will make neighborhood repairs as soon as possible.
“I spent hours out here trying to keep this place up and nice for the rest of my neighbors and myself, and for the city to come in here and do the damage that they’re doing, I just feel really disrespected as a homeowner," Ratcliff said. “The citizens are paying for all of it, we’re paying the price for the damage, and we’re paying the taxes for these drivers to drive around and do what they’re doing."
News 5 will follow through on this developing story.
