Glen Ridge public works conquers blizzard

GELN RIDGE, NJ — Directors of the public works departments in Glen Ridge and Bloomfield said streets in their respective communities were drivable by Sunday following an all-day snowstorm Saturday, which left the area under at least 2 feet of snow.

In Glen Ridge, William Bartlett was prepared for the storm with 12 men on duty and two more on call. In Bloomfield on Friday, Anthony Nesto said he had a total of 40 men, including two in the mechanic shop, eight shoveling sidewalks, 26 driving plows and four driving loaders. Bloomfield has 100 miles of roadway; Glen Ridge has 24 miles.

With the storm anticipated to begin around Friday midnight, which it did, Nesto said his workers were scheduled to come in on shifts.

“Even with more overtime because of Saturday and Sunday, my goal is that people will be able to drive Sunday morning, if it stops Saturday midnight,” he said. “The first wave of workers reports at 2 a.m., then 4 a.m., then 8 a.m. By 10 a.m., all hands on deck. We don’t want to call them up in the middle of the night.”

Nesto said he would be with the first wave of workers.
“I find I have to be here in a storm like this,” he said.
Both directors said they would be using salt and not brine. Bartlett said salt went on the streets last Sunday.
“No brine for this storm,” he said.

Nesto said because of the amount of snow that was forecasted, it was not a brine event.
“With less snow and colder temperature, then use brine,” he said. “Salt the main roads and hills and at 3 inches, drop the plows.”

On Friday, Bartlett said four plows would work north of Bloomfield Avenue, and three would plow south of it.
“We’ll have three plows on standby,” he said.

The Glen Ridge streets to be plowed first, he said, were to be routes leading to Mountainside Hospital, and Herman Street, where the police station is located.

“Our main concern is the wind,” he said. “We’ll be able to plow and salt the streets. Our concern is snow drifts and trees falling down.”

On Tuesday, he said his plowers had cleared every street. “Some needed more attention on Sunday,” he said. “But all were hit two times as far as plowing.”

He was thankful that there were no problems with trees or flooding. But Bartlett did have mechanical problems.
“We had a hydraulic issue with a spreader,” Bartlett said, “a power steering problem with a pickup with a plow, and minor plow issues. It would not work so we used a backup.”

Of course, schools were affected.
Bloomfield schools were closed on Monday. On Tuesday, things went reasonably smooth.
“The Bloomfield custodial staff and maintenance crews did a fantastic job,” Brookdale Elementary School Principal Joseph Fleres said in an email. “A big thank you to our town DPW for an excellent job all around our Brookdale community, as well. Most importantly, I would like to thank my head custodian, Scott Moss, and his crew of Kevin Miller and Joel Acevedo, for the phenomenal job.”

Demarest Elementary Principal Mary Todaro wrote that because traffic was backed up down Broughton Avenue, the late bell was extended for a few minutes.

“Our custodians had made some cutouts so kids could be dropped off out front without having to climb over a 4-foot bank of snow,” she said. “I stood out front to assist students getting out of cars. We hope to have the snow in front pushed onto our front lawn so the entire front area is clear. Our custodians did a remarkable job. Some parents reported a few homeowners did not shovel, which made walking to school difficult.”

Fairview Elementary Principal Sal DeSimone said, “Parking areas and walkways were cleared of snow by our custodians and the district’s maintenance staff. Our attendance is excellent. I use remind.com to keep our families and staff posted.”
Glen Ridge schools had a delayed opening on Monday. Superintendent of Schools Dirk Phillips said in an email that he had consulted with Glen Ridge Police Chief Sheila Byron-Lagattuta Sunday morning and visited the schools around noon. He spoke with Byron-Lagattuta again around 3:30 p.m.

“I also spoke to our head of maintenance several times throughout the day,” he said. “After my last conversation with the chief, I decided to open the schools with a delayed opening. Based on all the information I had, the town and school were prepared to have the schools opened. We decided on a delay knowing that there would be some freezing occurring overnight, that street parking for staff would be limited, and that students would need extra time in getting to school.”

Ridgewood Avenue School Principal Michael Donovan said in an email he had about the same number of absent and tardy students that he would normally have.

“The drop off was a little trickier than usual because kids had to navigate some snow piles,” he said, “which most of them didn’t mind at all.”

Bartlett said Glen Ridge used 100 tons of salt and has 80 tons on hand. Nesto said Bloomfield used 200 tons of salt and there was plenty left.

“We ordered 125 tons first thing Monday morning,” Bartlett said. “We are in snow removal mode now around schools and where county plows didn’t plow to the curb. We’re hand-digging the catch basins.”
Some Bloomfield residents were frustrated, Nesto said.

“But overall, they understood and were happy with what we did,” he said. “Unfortunately, we had 30 inches — that’s just an unofficial estimate — in 22 hours. Even plowing curb to curb, the snow kicks back. It was a great deal to handle. We had some people working 40 hours straight. A lot of residents are extremely happy but some aren’t. We strive to make things perfect.”

He said his department was concentrating on hauling snow out of tight areas using his own workers and subcontractors. Accumulated snow in the North Center business district, Broad Street down to Bloomfield Avenue, and the Bloomfield Avenue business district would be removed during the early morning hours of Jan. 28 and 29.

“Our guys, men and women, worked their tails off in extremely adverse situations,” Nesto said.
“We got the roads open,” Bartlett said. “It’s a testament to the guys working. We came in at 11 p.m. Friday and went home 5:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon. And no one was injured.”