Private roads in Wareham will be plowed this winter, and a citizen is working to get a measure on the spring town election ballot that will ensure the roads continue to get cleared in the future.

Wareham resident Patricia Rumney is working to collect signatures to place a petition on the ballot that will ask voters whether the town should adopt a Massachusetts law that allows municipalities to use public funds to plow private roads.

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan discovered in June that the town had been mistakenly plowing private ways for years. It is technically illegal for the town to do so without voters' OK to use public funds to plow private roads.

"When I heard about not plowing private roads it was then I had a feeling my road was a private road, but I wasn't sure," said Rumney, of Helen Street in West Wareham. "I checked the list and found my road was a private road."

After talking to her neighbors, Rumney discovered that they, too, had been under the impression that the road was public.

Rumney became concerned about people who depend on emergency vehicles and kids who depend of school buses on her street, so she decided to do something about it.

In order to place the question on the ballot, Rumney must gather 200 signatures, or 20% of the total number of registered voters in Wareham.

"It's like anything else here, when you need something done, someone's got to do it," she said, matter-of-factly.

If voters approve the ballot measure, it does not mean the private ways will be accepted by the town and then become public. It just means that public funds can be used to plow them.

The town is still in the process of figuring out which ways are public and which are private because, over the years, poor record keeping has left it unclear.

If you're a registered voter interested in signing the petition, contact Rumney at 508-295-3518.