By CRAIG FREILICH

NORWOOD – The village has been notifying former overweight-truck permit holders that their permits are void.

“For a number of years we used to issue temporary permits for heavier loads as a convenience to truckers, particularly, for instance, for things like ingress and egress at a building site,” Mayor Jim McFaddin said.

Those permits might have been required for Morgan, Bicknell, Spring and Ridge streets, which have been posted at an eight-ton limit since 1983. But in 2010, McFaddin said, the village was informed that “the practice was not proper, that you can’t make a general exception for one trucker. You can’t discriminate. If it’s a posted route, it’s posted for everyone.”

The issue came up again recently when a trucker presented an old permit to a police officer.

“The police brought it to our attention, and the village attorney advised us to publish a public notice to inform former permit holders” that the permits had been rescinded. The village also contacted truckers to whom the permits had been issued to tell them that the permits were no longer valid.

“Of course it has no effect on loads of eight tons or less,” McFaddin said.

The exceptions to the limit would be for local delivery and infrequent special loads, he said.

McFaddin said the policy in the past had been not to pursue violations unless a complaint was made. But then heavier trucks began more frequent trips along the posted roads.

In 2010, Knowlton and Son, salt transporters located on River Road, challenged the weight restriction in court and was successful, but Mike Knoiwlton says there has still been no accomodation by the village for his trucks.