Public Voices Praise, Concerns to Village Board After Last Week's Blizzard

The that dumped more than a foot of snow on Long Island also came with high winds that caused snowdrifts. With some exceptions the public gave praise to the village during the Port Jefferson Trustees meeting last night for the clean up effort.

Many shop owners in the village are responsible for clearing off the sidewalks in front of their buildings so pedestrians can get into and out of their stores. Port Jefferson village had its highway crews out as did the Town of Brookhaven. To assist in snow removal during heavy snowfall, the village contracts to help clear sidewalks while the village crews are out clearing the roads.

Port Jefferson Chief Constable Wally Tomaszewski said that when a storm is expected code enforcement distributes notices to business owners and residents letting them know what they need to do.

"Code enforcement guys are out there getting cars off of the roadways," Tomaszewski said. "We knock on doors. We put notices on cars the day before so people are aware."

He said that the code enforcement officers are out until 3 a.m. prior to the storm. If cars aren't removed from the snow routes, they give summons. They also go out after the storm to ask people to shovel.

"Code guys out there for 36 hours straight with no rest," said Tomaszewski.

The wind provided an extra challenge to snow removal efforts all over the roads and rails across Long Island. The the day after the storm on all but the most populated rail lines of snow and abandoned cars.

The first priority during a storm is to get the streets cleared, then village parking lots according to village trustee Leslea Snyder.

She said that the village appreciates the public calling in to let them know where problems areas are but she also said that people called to compliment certain business owners for their efforts.

"Someone made a mention that was the best snow clearing shop out there," said Snyder.

For all the effort there were still problem areas.

Marge McCuen, owner of on East Main Street said that a giant mound pushed up by snow removal on the corner of Prospect Street and East Main Street in front of the posed a visibility problem.

She also pointed out that the cross walk for the wasn't cleared.

Barbara Ransome, Director of Operations of the wondered who was responsible for cut throughs for pedestrians.

She said that she saw Mr. Holmes "down there with his little tractor" when she went into town.

"When I went to work on Monday morning my drive way was clear. Downtown was a mess," she said. "I put in a call."

Ransome mentioned that she was thankful for the quick response she got when she called the highway department after observing the bus depot across from the Chamber of Commerce totally enclosed in snow. The next day it was cleared.

"Having chamber right there you can't help but notice how many people take the bus," she said. "I watched one person fall."

There was also lingering confusion among residents and business owners as to which sidewalks Port Jefferson village owned, which were private and which were the responsibility of Brookhaven Town.

"Roughly 25 percent of the sidewalks throughout the village are village owned sidewalks and the rest are private owned," said village trustee Lee Rosner.

Some wondered which sidewalks were on the list that the village contracted Mr. Holmes to clear and how to get on the list.

Mayor Garant promised that the list and a map of the sidewalks the village contracted to be cleared would be made available to the public.