Blizzard Response Hot Topic At Meet the Candidates Night

Supervisor Ed Romaine and Superintendent of Highways Dan Losquadro at the Port Jefferson-Terryville Civic Association ‘Meet The Candidates ‘ forum Wednesday night pledged not repeat the town's heavily-criticized performance after last year's blizzard if granted a new term by local voters. 

In February, areas of Long Island, including Port Jefferson Station, Miller Place, Port Jefferson and Mount Sinai, all saw an unprecedented amount of snow. Romaine had taken a vacation that week and in his absence there was some mishandling that led to people being snowed into their homes for days. In a question and answer portion of the meeting, Romaine said a lot has been done to prevent what happened during last year’s blizzard.

“I have been working closely with Dan Losquadro on making sure the proper machines are in place…it's really about communication. We are also working on a new GIS system (geographic information system) to help keep track of our vehicles,” said Romaine.

The new GIS system is designed to capture, store, manipulate, and analyze a variety of information in real-time, sending it back to Losquardo’s office giving him all the necessary information to make informed decisions.

Although Losquardo wasn’t in office at the time of the blizzard, he said that he is working with Romaine on upgrading the technology system to allow for not only snow conditions but for anything road related such as construction, traffic, and accident monitoring.

“You know the cameras they have put up on the corners of streets, in major intersections? I am working on a contract to see if we could gain access to those and use them to monitor all roadway conditions in real time,” said Losquardo.

Losquardo didn’t comment on when this system would be fully integrated, but after the meeting said it’s only the beginning. “I would love for Brookhaven’s website to have a picture of the town and allow residents to search their local area and see what’s going on, what routes they should take, and schedule their day on the road. It’s great technology, we are working on it.”

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