Middle Reports Blizzard Actions, Costs

COURT HOUSE — Middle Township Committee Feb. 17 heard of the massive response by township employees and volunteers to recent dual snowstorms that hit this county and also started paying some large bills associated with them.
In a committee work session, township Administrator Mark Mallett detailed the efforts of the police department, emergency medical services (EMS), fire companies, public works department and the American Red Cross shelter.
“It was a fine job by everyone,” Deputy Mayor F. Nathan Doughty said. “A great effort on everybody’s part.”
According to Mallett, police dispatchers receive about 1,085 non-emergency phone calls and 204 9-1-1 calls in a typical week. During the snowstorm week, however, the phones were ringing off the hook — 2,771 non-emergency and 468 9-1-1 calls, well over 100 percent increases.
Police Chief Christopher Leusner said dispatchers were so busy, with calls coming in bunches, they actually had to stop entering calls for service into the department’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. Because of that, calls for service during the snowstorm (697) were actually lower than an average week’s total (951).
Regarding emergency medical services, Mallett said that Middle Township’s paid EMS as well as the volunteer Ambulance Corps and Rio Grande Rescue Squad responded to nearly 80 calls or just about 300 percent their usual responses.
Similarly, the township’s four volunteer fire companies responded to over 300 percent more calls than usual — 106 calls during the blizzard and 26 typically. Mallet said Station 70 and 71 in Court House and Swainton typically respond to 10 calls per week, but they responded to 41 during the blizzard; Station 72 in Rio Grande, average eight calls, blizzard 39; Station 73 in Green Creek, average five calls, blizzard 20; Station 74 in Goshen, average three calls, blizzard six.
Regarding the Public Works Department, Mallett said employees plowed 129 miles of township roads, cleared fallen trees from 65 roads and used 92 tons of salt.
“There primary mission during the storm was to clear the way for emergency vehicles,” Mallet said.
Because of numerous power outages throughout the township, the Red Cross staffed a shelter at the township’s Middle School at 300 E. Pacific Ave., Court House. On Feb. 6 at the height of the problem, 63 township residents utilized the shelter, Mallet said.
Costs associated with the storms addressed by township committee on Feb. 17 were well over $200,000. In addition, Mallett said employee overtime costs associated with the blizzard would likely top $125,000.
Following the work session at its regular meeting, township committee approved $137,000 to pay local private contractors who helped remove snow and perform other duties during the blizzard.
Anzelone Electric was paid $7,000 for a repair of the shelter’s emergency generator; Nick Badame Refrigeration, $5,000 for an emergency repair at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Whitesboro; and All Traffic Solutions, $4,000 for replacing a traffic sign that was destroyed by the snow.
Regarding snow removal, the township approved: Albrecht and Heun, $68,000; J.W. Hand, $25,000; Coco Brothers, $15,000; Chew Brothers, $5,000; H.J. Cowan, $4,000; and Gary’s Automotive, $4,000.
Local contractor Mitchell Nichols attended the meeting and asked why he wasn’t called to help remove the snow. Mayor Susan DeLanzo assured him that it was an oversight that occurred because of the state of the emergency and said the township “would be most happy to have you on a list of contractors” for future incidents.
The township started calling private contractors to handle snow removal when the Public Works Department vehicles started to fail. The department started with 12 plowing vehicles when the storm began and lost nearly half due to the deteriorating conditions.
Due to the damage to the township’s plowing vehicles, committee also approved up to $75,000 to go toward repairing snow removal equipment.
Mallet said at the meeting that the township submitted a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) preliminary damage assessment report to the county office of emergency management for $377,000. That figure was only for the first part of the storm from Feb. 5-7 and included estimates of $54,000 from the school district and $48,000 from Cape Regional Medical Center.
Because of the emergency declaration for these storms, FEMA should reimburse the township for these costs.
Mallet said the township was still developing estimates for the second part of the storm. He estimated the total cost for the township to be in excess of $400,000, possibly closer to $500,000.
“This was certainly a storm that we will not forget,” DeLanzo said.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com