Nor'easter Had Montville Prepared for 'Major Winter Storm'
Township DPW crews keep roads clear while utility workers continue to restore power.
Only about 75 percent of Montville residents were with power Wednesday and a winter storm seemed daunting to many. But Montville Mayor Tim Braden said the township was prepared to take on whatever weather the storm might bring.
"We're not taking this storm mildly," Braden said, as Department of Public Works crews began loading trucks with salt and prepping plows early Wednesday morning. "We are prepared to deal with this as if it's a major winter storm."
As Braden spoke, nearly a dozen residents found warmth and power outlets at the Senior House, the new location for comfort and shelter the township has staffed. The shelter was planning to close for the night Wednesday.
"The plan is to close at 10 p.m. as a warming center, unless the need [to stay overnight] arises," Nancy Mertz, who works in the township's social services department and has been helping run the shelter, said.
Braden said the storm was not expected to affect continuing JCP&L power restoration efforts in the township and that the linemen are able to work in the bucket trucks until winds reach 40 mph. Sections of town near the Lake Valhalla community and Taylortown Road area had not yet seen power restored since Tropical Storm Sandy caused outages beginning on Oct. 29.
For the past week, township DPW crews have been continuing to clear roadways of trees and wires. Braden said prior to Wednesday, the roads were inventoried again and determined to be passable, particularly if plow trucks needed to get through.
"We will do our best to plow all the roads," Braden said.
As for Wednesday's storm, Braden said that the township was planning for the worst. He said Wednesday's storm had particularly bad timing as township employees from the DPW and police department have been working long hours with little rest. The employees have "been taxed," Braden said, working for 10 days dealing with storm-related issues from Sandy. This has amounted to countless hours of overtime.
But Braden said he greatly appreciates the work of the employees and that he is hopeful that the employees soon have a chance to get some rest.
In This article
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Senior House
356 Main Rd, Montville, NJ -
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Public Safety Building
360 Route 202, Montville, NJ
JAH
4:36 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
In addition to the Lake Valhalla community and Talyortown Road area, a large area of Towaco has not seen power since October 29. Sure hope we're not forgotten!
Megan
4:57 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Timber, tomalyn hill, Nelson rds have never gotten there power back either.
JAH
5:44 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Neither have Weiss, Mary, Harold and quite a few more. You never hear about these roads.
paul
6:01 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Douglas ct, toby,cliff, pinwbrook rd and that whole area still no power......jcpl needs to come work in the area and help us out.....
D Ambriano
6:07 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Waughaw Road and Ward Witty are out. And the streets aren't plowed either.
Megan
6:45 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Amazing how our mayor has time to talk to press but not one word to the folks in his town who 9 days later still have no power. Communication is part of the job.
melikric
8:05 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
What other source of info might Mayor Braden have other than the fiction writers at JCPL? I'd like to see big fines levied against JCPL starting today.
BooBooBear
9:57 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
We need a VOICE for all of us with NO POWER. Going on 10 days...TOWACO is STILL without power. God Help US All.
Janet Frohlich
9:08 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Someone PLEASE help us -- TOWACO needs power -- I don't see anyone working on the poles -- We are the forgotten ones!!!!
Patricia Plishka
10:08 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Towaco is always the last to be restored. JCP&L still has not said why we lost power and why it is not restored. They are a company with no conscience, undermanned in NJ, owned by an out of state co. (First Energy aka, No Energy!) I was told severAL times Wednesday was the day we would have power, here we are, Thursday and still no power. No doubt they are restoring power too. areas that lost power a second time and neglecting we who lost it 10 days ago. Why aren't our town officials demanding more? Absolutely shameful of everyone, town officials, power company, etc.
Patricia Plishka
12:13 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
I have one more thought, a question really. Why would a utility company, who every year has to spend millions bringing in out of state crews, paying enormous amount of overtime, pay for lodging for those crews, etc, etc, not even consider putting the lines underground, a little bit a year, just so they don't have to deal with all the lines that are brought down by trees? Seems logical and a rather good business decision. I know its not easy, but is this????
D Ambriano
1:37 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
What I hear from them is that it's too expensive (yes, even more expensive than doing everything you mentioned, apparently). If it were me, I wouldn't let any of the power companies have any new toys (eg, PSEG "reliability" project) until they take care of their old ones better!! Maintenance of the existing lines along the roadways where the majority of the trees has fallen is an absolute disgrace.
Andie
2:05 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
definitely. BURY THE LINES
Patricia Plishka
2:10 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
@D Ambiano> you are right it is expensive, but at least they should start doing somewhere especially on our street where we lose power if you look @ the trees too long. Gotta take a bite to eat the sandwich, as they say.
Jen Wogen
2:27 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
It's unbelievable that we are on day 11 without power. Did you know that Indian Lane lost power last night, was down for a few hours and JCPL showed up early this morning with a bucket truck and fixed their power?? While next door on Waughaw we have been out for 11 days?? I called JCPL this morning and they told me their original timelines were delayed b/c of the new storm although they were still prioritizing those who were still out from Sandy, which is total BS. I still couldn't get a timing estimate from them.
Patricia Plishka
2:36 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
@ Jen...I share your pain and frustration. I did not know about Indian Lane but I am not surprised. As neighbors, you know WE ALWAYS LOSE POWER AND ARE THE LAST TO BE RESTORED.) Maybe we should all pay our bill 11 days late & see if they like it. Money is power. (I'm queen of cliches but I find they're mostly true.)
Patricia Plishka
3:47 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Sign this petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-chris-christie-and-jcp-l-remove-jcp-l-from-service-in-new-jersey
Patricia Plishka
4:08 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
START CALLING PEOPLE! THESE ARE NUMBERS COLLECTED FROM GOOGLE SEARCH OF COPORATE DIRECT DIAL NUMBERS TO FIRST ENERGY EXECUTIVES! CALL EVERYONE AT FIRST ENERGY AND TELL THEM WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!
330-384-5808
330-384-5500
330-384-5100
330-384-4901
330-384-3859
330-384-4580
330-384-5814
330-384-5022
330-384-5742
330-384-5375
330-384-5821
330-384-2454
330-384-5022
330-384-5806
330-384-5247
330-384-4580