Snow big deal - it's a snow day

Both the Malverne and West Hempstead districts declared Thursday, Jan. 27, a snow day. All schools are closed and all after-school activities and events have been cancelled.

Some 13 inches of snow fell on parts of the south shore of Long Island Wednesday night into Thursday morning. But neither Town of Hempstead officials nor those of the Village of Malverne were too concerned about handling it.

The town's salt spreaders had been making rounds since 7 a.m. Wednesday and all 12 of Malverne's snow-plow operators were on duty. Both municipalities had their respective pieces of equipment salting and plowing throughout the duration of the storm.

"We're all set, baby: bring it on!" said Paul Jessup, head of Malverne's Department of Public Works.

While prepared to handle the actual storm, is the village equipped to handle the financial burden that accompanies it? Village Trustee Joe Hennessy said yes.

"This storm might put us over [the budget]," he said, "but we have reserves. The village is in sound condition."

Malverne set aside about $45,000 for snow-related expenses for the 2010-11 fiscal year. Costs associated with the Dec. 26 blizzard and the two January snowstorms will not be available until the end of the month, according to Hennessy.

Town of Hempstead officials were not worried about the costs of handling this storm, according to spokeswoman Susan Trenkle-Pokalsky.

"Our focus is getting everything cleaned up and taken care of," she said. "We'll worry about the budget after that."

The town budgeted about $2.5 million for snow-related events for this fiscal year, which began on Jan. 1. It spent $1.35 million handling the most recent snowstorm in early January.    

"We're not concerned about what the storm will do to the budget," Trenkle-Pokalsky said. "But we can't make predictions… we don't know how the storm is going to play out."

The town did declare a snow emergency late Wednesday afternoon and Supervisor Kate Murray requested that residents remove cars from local roadways.

"In storms with significant snowfall and limited visibility, it is particularly important that cars are not parked on the roads," Murray said in a statement. "Snow plows can perform more effectively and efficiently when cars are not on the roads."

Murray advised residents shoveling driveways to place snow to the right of the driveway when facing the road. In doing so, residents can reduce the chance of having their driveways "plowed-in" after shoveling.

Village, town and county officials advised people to only travel in an emergency. Keep an extra flashlight, food, water and blankets in your vehicle.