MEDINA — After a snow storm last year, a 95-year-old North Harmony Drive resident on her way to church grabbed a shovel and tried to clear the bottom of her driveway.

As she struggled to move the mounds of snow, a man driving by stopped his car to see if she needed help. He noticed she was supporting herself with the shovel and had tears in her eyes as she told him about how she had missed church the week before because she couldn’t get out of her driveway.

As luck would have it, the man was Mayor Dennis Hanwell, and the woman became the inspiration for Medina’s snow plow program for seniors.

After lake-effect snow blanked the county with a few inches earlier this week, the plows set out for the first time to plow the driveways of the 23 people who have signed up and been accepted in the program.

“We’re still kind of feeling the program out, because this is the first time we’ve done it,” Hanwell said.

He said local Boy Scouts also have volunteered to shovel sidewalks at houses involved in the program.

For residents who have not yet signed up, he said, it’s not too late.

Sign-up forms are available at City Hall, 132 N. Elmwood Ave., or at www.medinaoh.org, along with the list of qualifications residents must meet to apply.

According to the proposed policy, the service will cost a one-time fee of $15 for the year and only will be available to homeowners, not renters. There also must not be a person in the house who is able to shovel snow.

Residents age 65 or older who do not have a disability will be accepted into the program if their income is 50 percent of the $62,800 median income for 2011 in Medina County, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Residents must present a copy of a federal income tax form from the previous year.

Anyone with a disability confirmed by a doctor can be accepted into the program regardless of income, as well as families of active-duty or reserve military or National Guard units activated and deployed.

All of those accepted will have to sign a waiver of liability.

In future years, Hanwell said, there will be a date by which those wishing to participate must register, but for this year, there is no deadline.

“A good number of those that are signing up are very thankful and appreciative of the program,” Hanwell said.

That includes his first customer.

The North Harmony Drive resident, who did not wish to have her name published, said Friday she was thankful to have help getting out of her driveway this week.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “It was done and I was so happy.”

Contact Jennifer Pignolet at (330) 721-4063 or jpignolet@medina-gazette.com.

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