Five Towns villages prepare for snow

Villages in the Five Towns find themselves making educated guesses each year about how much money they will spend on snowstorm cleanup as they prepare for winter’s wrath.

The unpredictability of winter weather was on display last year, when the blizzard of Dec. 26-27 taxed the villages’ snow budgets. Coordination and communication are the keys to ensuring that snow removal is done safely and efficiently, according to the area’s mayors.

“I oversee operations and see to it that people are out,” said Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler, who works out of Village Hall during storms. “I rely on my Public Works guy” — Steve Cherson — “who has worked with me for 16 years to get the job done. They’re out immediately, and residents applaud that crew.”

Atlantic Beach’s snow budget for the season, $20,259, includes equipment and salaries. In August the village received a payment of just over $6,900 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for last December’s blizzard that was applied to the village’s general budget.

The Village of Lawrence has nine pickup trucks with plows, four pickups with salt spreaders, two dump trucks with plows, two dump trucks with salt spreaders and three snowblowers at its disposal. Its budget is $101,000.

Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner said that he’s often on the scene during snowstorms, coordinating the cleanup effort with the village’s Highway Department. “I do what we need to do and see if we need to declare a snow emergency,” Oliner said. “I would do so if cars needed to be off the street so our work could proceed more expeditiously with less vehicles in the way.”

To benefit the residents of Hewlett Harbor and the members of the Seawane Country Club, the village and club formed a partnership for snow removal. “We own three pieces of equipment,” said Hewlett Harbor Mayor Mark Weiss, “but I made the decision that even though we have our own equipment and personnel, we needed extra help. But I was not comfortable contracting it out to a general contractor because it’s a lottery. You’re on a list and you get them when they’re available. The Seawane Country Club wants the community to be accessible in order to have their members coming and going.”

Weiss said that the village budgeted $10,000 for this winter. Although he does not know how much the village spent during last year’s blizzard, it received a check for $16,000 from FEMA, which helped cushion the storm’s financial blow. “The money … addressed the expenses we carried forward based on the money we actually spent,” he said, “so it helped us balance the budget.”

During snowstorms, Weiss explained, he and his team of village trustees and those responsible for snow removal meet to make sure the equipment is working. They use a reverse-directory phone-calling system to leave messages with residents about potential snow emergencies. “We have our own security force” — former police officers who are contracted by the village — “to bring in and close the roads during ice conditions,” Weiss said. “We man the situation on an ongoing basis, and it’s not uncommon to be up around the clock to deal with situations.”

Cedarhurst Village Administrator Sal Evola said that the village has yet to receive FEMA money for last winter, but it expects to be reimbursed $41,000. This season the village has budgeted $60,000, up from last year’s $50,000, as a result of last winter’s numerous storms. “You never know how to predict,” Evola said.

Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise coordinates with Frank Parise, the superintendent of the Department of Public Works, to ensure that the village’s equipment — 10 snowplows, three sanders and seven snowblowers — is used efficiently to clear streets, according to Evola.

The Village of Hewlett Neck does not have its own snow-removal equipment. It uses its $22,000 snow budget to pay contractor Stony Creek in Island Park. “We received a check in September for $5,500 from FEMA, which will go into the general budget,” Mayor Stu Troyetsky said. “Last year we went over budget, but only by a few thousand dollars. If we had one more snowstorm after that, we would’ve been over budget by a lot.”

Troyetsky coordinates snow removal with Road Commissioner Ross Epstein, and has walkie-talkies available during emergencies if cell phones cannot be used. “We haven’t had to use them yet,” he said of the radios. “Last year was a major season for snow, and [Stony Creek] did a great job. We received very few complaints.”