Mayor gives town a B-minus for snow removal

IRVINGTON, NJ — According to township officials, although Winter Storm Jonas dumped almost 3 feet of snow on Irvington and most of New Jersey on Saturday, Jan. 23, they were happy with their response.

“We had 31 inches of snow and it had to be picked up and moved, because there was no place to put it and, even though we have 22 trucks, that only includes four front-end loaders, the heavy duty trucks,” Mayor Tony Vauss said on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

“We couldn’t just push it to the side or pile it up. One of the most daunting tasks is that, after we plowed a street, when people came out to clean off their cars, they threw snow into the middle of the street, so it seems like the street wasn’t plowed. But all the cars parked on the block are clean.”

“I would give us a B-minus,” Vauss said. “We worked until 2 a.m. on Friday, the first night. On Saturday, I got home at 3 a.m. That day, they started from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m., and so did many of our police personnel and public workers.”

Even though Vauss rated the township’s snow removal effort after Winter Storm Jonas a “B-minus,” some residents, like Marjorie Smith of Paine Avenue, think the grade should be lower. She and a family member said they didn’t mind having to clear the snow from in front of their house, but they didn’t have any salt to throw down on the ground afterward to prevent ice from forming.

And even though Smith’s dilemma was reported to the mayor via text message on Sunday, Jan. 24, she said no one ever came around with any salt to help them out. She said she was disappointed with the administration for not coming to the rescue that day.

Alicia Justice and her father, Martin Justice, are another pair of Paine Avenue residents who said they don’t believe the township did a good job responding to the blizzard.

“They need to bring the snow plows out and clean the streets and they don’t need to block us in either,” Alicia said on Sunday, Jan. 24 at about noon. “I’ve been out here shoveling snow since 7 a.m. I have two driveways at 53 and 55 Paine Ave. and we’re helping out with 59. So we’ve got to get all three of these houses out.”

Martin said the problem was the plows came at the wrong time.
“We know that they plowed us in last night, because of the ice that was there,” Martin said on Sunday, Jan. 24. “Our snow was soft. When you get to the ice where it’s packed in, that’s where the snow plow was and it packed it down and left us in it and that’s what’s taking us time to get out. But we’re out now.”

When Martin made those remarks, he and Alicia still had about a driveway and a half to go, because they wanted to take care of their neighbors, especially the seniors. He said he’s 64 years old and almost a senior himself and, in his opinion, the storm was “the worst since the ‘60s.”

“The big snowstorm back in the ‘90s was mostly ice,” Martin said. “This is the worst snowstorm since the ‘60s, because the snow was up to here, up to my chest and I’m 6 feet tall. And our neighbors are elderly, so that’s why we’re all out here doing this together.”

The Clerge family, who lives right around the corner on Chestnut Street, agreed with their neighbors that Winter Storm Jonas truly was a bad one.

“This is the worst,” Sheila Clerge said on Sunday, Jan. 24. “It’s going terrible. We’ve lived here 22 years and this is the worst storm that we’ve seen. Even the one back in the ‘90s wasn’t that bad. This is the worst.”

However, as bad as things were, other residents, such as Zyil Powell, 10, were still able to find a silver lining; Zyil spent the day walking around with his shovel, selling his services.

“I made some money and that was a good thing,” Powell said Sunday, Jan. 24. “I’m happy it snowed, so I could come outside and play in the snow. I played yesterday and I’m making money today. I think I’ll stay out here until 3:30 p.m. I just walk around, I look and see if someone looks like they’re struggling and I ask to help and if they need help then I’ll help them. I have a set price, but it depends on how much work there is to do.”

Vauss said he particularly wanted to thank the Irvington Public Schools and the Irvington Housing Authority for pitching in to help the town weather the storm and participate in the cleanup efforts. He said, thanks to them, even though the school district was closed Monday, Jan. 25, as were some of the local businesses in town, most of the main thoroughfares in Irvington were cleared by Tuesday, Jan. 26, and things were as close to normal in a municipality of 56,000-plus people as they possibly could be, with mounds of melting snow scattered here and there.

“I want to thank the Public Schools and the Housing Authority,” Vauss said. “They usually just do the schools or the Housing Authority residences, but I called in all their trucks. They were out on the street helping us and so was the Housing Authority. That was unprecedented in Irvington history for us to move in unison like that.”

Vauss said the township also brought in contractors with front-end loaders to help offset the fact that the Department of Public Works didn’t have enough of its own to get the job done. He said no expense was spared to make sure Irvington’s streets were safe to travel for pedestrians and motorists alike.

“We even called in a contractor from East Orange with big salt trucks and plows,” Vauss said. “We had all hands on deck. Once we call a state of emergency, I don’t have to wait for the council to approve anything.”

But Vauss said the downside of prioritizing snow removal on this scale is that it was expensive.
“This will impact the budget, but it’s a moot point in an emergency,” Vauss said. “The money is not the most important thing. In an emergency, the most important thing is saving the lives of our residents and making sure we do the best we can do to ensure their safety.”

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