The board of trustees has scheduled a public hearing about a change to the village's vehicle and traffic laws that would make two Walnut Street intersections all-way stops.

The change was requested by a group of parents who are concerned about the safety of their young children crossing the street on their way to and from elementary school.

The parents have been to recent police committee and board meetings to ask for stop signs at the Walnut Street intersections with Delaware Street and Susquehanna Avenue.

Trustee Stu Taugher had tried to set the hearing during the board's regular March meeting, but held off at the request of Mayor Carol Waller until last Thursday when the board met in special session.

Waller had asked Taugher to give the board a chance to review the issue and come up with the best solution.

During the special meeting, parents again made their case for the stop signs and were joined by Walnut Street resident Walter Hogan, who told the board the traffic problems are not just when children are arriving at and leaving school.

Kate Leonardo said that despite efforts to slow traffic on Walnut Street, there continue to be "near misses" reported.

Waller commented that she sees the situation as not just a village problem, but also a problem that involves the school and parents.

"I think it's a problem of a street that should be a through street 24 hours a day," said Karen Katz. "It's not just school kids, it's also the elderly and dog walkers. It's a problem all day long. We want to force people to come to a stop."

Waller asked if parents would like to help with the crossing guard duties, but they replied that they didn't think the onus should fall to them.

School superintendent Mary Jo McPhail attended to the meeting at Waller's request to discuss the possibilities of making changes in the bus routing schedule. School buses travel from the middle/high school to the elementary school to pick up students and then return to the middle/high school for another pick up.

McPhail she and the school board look at the routing every year.

"We spend numerous hours looking for ways to change and have yet to come up with a solution," she said.

McPhail said the school board has also looked at creating a roadway connecting the two schools, but there is insufficient space.

Taugher said that in the past buses picked up middle/high school students first and then traveled to the elementary school for the second pick up.

McPhail said they would happy to look at routing schedule again.

"Maybe there's something we haven't thought of in eight years," she said, adding that there are contractual issues which must also be taken into consideration.

Trustee Madalyn Cimino said it seemed to her that one of the big issues was getting kids to the Clark Sports Center after school and wondered if it was possible to shuttle students from the school to the gym.

Sports Center director Brad Feik said they did not have the resources to provide a shuttle service for 100 to 200 kids who go the gym after school.

Trustee-elect Jeff Katz said that stop signs at the two intersections were reasonably inexpensive and easily undone if they are not effective.

"Stop signs are worth a shot," he said.

Trustee-elect Paul Kuhn said he believes many motorists use Walnut Street as a cut through to Susquehanna and that stop signs on Walnut may cut down on some of the traffic.

He also asked if the school had considered instituting a safety patrol program.

"We thought about it," McPhail said, "but times have changed. There are significantly more liability issues."

Leonardo said parents had targeted the two intersections because they are ones children travel frequently, but that the trustees should study the walkability of the village.

"We look at what we're going to do with cars, but not pedestrians," she said.

The board of trustees will listen to public comment about installing stop signs at the two intersections on Monday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m.

Two other vehicle and traffic law changes will also be the subject of public hearings that night. One calls for a change to no parking on the entire south side of Elm Street from Pioneer Street to Chestnut Street. The other calls for a restriction against parking vehicles 20 feet or longer anywhere in the village except in designated areas.