ORANGE — The Selectboard chair has received numerous complaints from people who are unhappy the sidewalks outside their homes have not been cleared following snow and ice storms, and he used last week’s meeting to clarify that sidewalk clearing is not the municipality’s job.

Tom Smith said the town’s bylaws require private property owners to maintain their sidewalks for safety.

“It’s not the town’s responsibility,” he said. “The town’s responsibility is for town-owned properties, like the Town Hall, etc.”

He said the sidewalk outside the former TD Bank building at 30 East Main St. gets particularly treacherous, with people who were recently waiting for a bus being forced to sit on a crate in the snow so as to not hurt themselves. He said he has tried to contact the building’s listed owner — LE Trust, a limited liability company in Cambridge.

“That’s a dead end,” he said. “I tried reaching out to them. I got nowhere.”

Smith and Town Administrator Matthew Fortier think the town should resort to clearing the area of snow and ice, and send the bill to the owner. Smith mentioned the town would be liable if a volunteer got injured clearing the sidewalk.

Police Chief James Sullivan said Officer Evangeline Cakounes has been working on the problem and he said a letter to the owner likely “would go to a sushi restaurant” with several apartments.

“Our goal isn’t necessarily to find people — it’s to try to get compliance and try and get the sidewalks safe,” he explained. “That ice storm was rugged. We even struggled with some town sidewalks, to make it really safe, because of the way that storm came in.”

He said failure to adequately clear a sidewalk can result in a $50 fine. He added that the owners of the former TD Bank building barely get the parking lot plowed or the ATM area cleared. The ATM is still functional for customers. Sullivan said a man recently told him he had to be towed from the ATM because his vehicle became stuck for nearly an hour. The chief said TD Bank’s corporate office does not know who now owns the building. Smith mentioned the property taxes are being paid.

Fortier said sidewalks are important, but the town departments that could clear them are already understaffed.

“We don’t have time to go shovel everyone’s sidewalks,” he said.

Sullivan said he would like to amend the bylaw to allow the town to clear dangerous sidewalks and bill the owners, putting a lien on the property if the bill is not paid.

“That feels like the next step,” Selectboard Vice Chair Julie Davis chimed in.

The discussion ended shortly after Fortier advocated for the continuation of issuing citations, and researching the possibility of sending invoices to property owners and putting liens on properties.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.