The village of Panama talked about the sidewalk snow plow being busy and the potential of someday getting an extra person to run it if needed during their recent meeting. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

PANAMA — It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that the village of Panama’s sidewalk snow plow has been seeing a lot of work during this winter.

At the village’s February board meeting Mayor William Schneider said winter can be a very quiet time for the village in regards to things going on, but that the sidewalk plow has been busy.

“We still hear a lot of positive comments that we’re keeping up with it,” Schneider said. “It’s made it a lot easier for people to get around in the village.”

Village Trustee Kyle Rhoades asked if the village is ever looking for extra help besides the one person they have that runs the sidewalk plow. Schneider said that is not something they have ever thought of, because it has never gotten to the point where the driver was overwhelmed.

“In the past what we have done is the mayor and/or a trustee would go do a little bit,” Schneider said.

If there was a day with a lot of snow and Schneider said they knew the person would not be around until later in the day, Schneider said he would go and get the plow out to plow the sidewalks in the main areas of the village. These days he added he is not up to speed on the new machine. Rhoades said he asked as his neighbor is looking for work in the winter and has experience, and Schneider said that would be a good person to reach out to if the need came up for an extra person.

“If it ever comes to a point where Travis says ‘I’m done, I want to retire’, that’s also a good thing to have,” Schneider said.