Rockville Centre preps for blizzard

With the first heavy snow of the season bearing down on Long Island, the Village of Rockville Centre is getting ready for the storm.

The village’s Department of Public Works is ready to hit the roads to put down a salt and sand mixture. The salt helps melt a small amount of snow and, when the plowing starts, helps the plows get down to street and not leave any ice behind.

“We might have to open Village Hall a little late tomorrow, because it’s going to be hard to get in here early in the morning,” said Village Administrator Keith Spadaro. “Luckily, the last day to pay your taxes is today, so that should be all done.”

According to Harry Weed, the village’s superintendent of public works, the plows will go out when the snow starts to put down salt. They won’t actually begin plowing until the snow accumulates to about four inches.

The immediate concern, Weed said, is to make sure that there is space for people to drive, so the first pass of the plows is down the center of the roads. Then, as they can, the path will be widened until the roads are clear.

The village has about 20 pieces of equipment, Weed said, which includes full-sized plows as well as smaller trucks.

“The village is broken down into routes, so our big trucks run a specified route they plow,” Weed said. “Then we have our smaller trucks that do the dead ends and cul-de-sacs.”

Because the village has so many roads, in large storms like this one, the village will hire private snow removal contractors to help clean the streets.

“You can’t keep up with it. It’s just too much,” Spadaro said. “And we can’t afford to buy 50 plows. So we’ll bring in private people if we need to.”

Weed explained that the first priority for plows is making sure that roads are open, even if they’re not completely cleared. He also said that the DPW will be monitoring and working with emergency services so that, if there is an emergency, plows can be rerouted to clear a path for fire trucks or ambulances.

Residents are reminded to not shovel or blow snow into the streets. Weed said that, when facing the street from your driveway, shovel all the snow to the right-hand side. “If you throw it to the left,” Weed said, “we’re just going to place it back when the plow comes through.”

In addition to the DPW, the village Electric Department will be monitoring for any outages. If any outages occur, workers will be out repairing them, provided that the conditions are safe.

“If they can get a crew out right away, they’ll get out there,” Spadaro said. “But if it’s a life-or-death situation, we’re not going to put our linemen in harm’s way.”

If there’s a downed line in your area, residents should call the department’s 24-hour hotline at 766-5800.