The Tupper Lake Village Board on Tuesday. From left, Trustee Eric Shaheen, Mayor Mary Fontana, Trustee Rick Pickering and Trustee Leon LeBlanc. Trustee David “Haji” Maroon was absent from the meeting. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Village Board meeting on Tuesday had lower attendance than usual, but that’s not without an excuse. It’s been one of the snowiest winters locally, and the weather has been straining municipal resources.

Multiple department heads were unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting as they were catching their breaths between repeated overnight shifts to clear out densely-populated areas in and around the village.

In their absence, Mayor Mary Fontana pleaded with residents to step up and help keep their properties clear if able, allowing village resources to more efficiently assist residents unable to clear.

“We as stewards of our community have a responsibility to make sure that our homes are accessible, our sidewalks are accessible (and) our hydrants are accessible,” she said. “Please, if you are able and capable, do not leave it to the village to do. It’s a service we are happy to provide, but we’re working with limited resources.”

Fontana said the hours that village crews, who have received vehicle and manpower assistance from the town of Tupper Lake Highway Department, have been working the “graveyard shifts” since Sunday’s storm that dumped around a foot of snow in Tupper Lake.

“These guys are working 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and then going back out at 11 p.m.,” she said. “It is time away from their families. They are working as hard as they can as quickly as they can.”

On social media, people have voiced their displeasure with either not having snow cleared in front of their house, having their cars plowed in and/or receiving a ticket for being parked on the street. Fontana said at the meeting that people may want to redirect their passion.

“If every person who took the time to put a Facebook post out there shoveled one square foot of snow from their driveway, we would have the cleanest community in the Adirondacks,” she said.

Fontana also invited anyone with concerns about the snow to call her directly.

“We are working as quickly as we can and if there are any gripes about snow removal, please please please call 518-359-3341 and hit extension 6 and you can talk to yours truly,” she said. “Our crews are working as hard as they can as quickly as they can.”

Tupper Lake Village Police Chief Eric Proulx said he has been reporting in at 4:30 a.m. over the past several mornings — largely to ticket cars that are parked illegally at night along the streets in the village.

He said the parking law exists because cars on the side of the road drastically hamper crews’ abilities to clear snow. This can result in the vehicle being stuck as a result of the forced plowing around it.

“People are continuing to park on the street, and they’re getting plowed in by the town and village plows because they are parked on the street,” he said.

Proulx said the solution isn’t complicated, and failing to abide by it will result in tickets.

“The simple fact of the matter is please don’t park on the streets at night until winter’s over,” he said. “It’s not stopping and these guys have nowhere to put the snow as it is and if your car gets buried, that’s on you and you’re going to get another parking ticket because I’ve been coming in to put them on.”

He noted that according to a local law in Tupper Lake, three unpaid parking tickets causing the vehicle to be towed may result in a suspended registration.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s not looking like the snow is going away anytime soon. In fact, there is more expected tonight across the region, although accumulations appear to be light, with an inch or two of fluffy snow possible across the Tri-Lakes.

After that, the upcoming weather forecast looks to be in the snow removers’ favor, as no substantial storms are expected through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service’s Burlington, Vermont office, which serves the Tri-Lakes region.

“There are no significant weather systems expected over the next week,” the office wrote in its forecast analysis Wednesday morning.