By DEBBIE ROSEN
More than a foot of snow fell in Oceanside on Saturday, Dec. 30, and when schools opened three days later, snow still covered many roads. And Supervisor Richard Guardino said he was not happy.
We've got to do a better job, so this doesn't happen again, Guardino said of the town's snow-removal efforts. In many communities, we did not do a good job, and I apologize for that.
To find out what went wrong, the town has hired Frank J. Scarangella, a former deputy director in Hempstead's highway department, as a consultant. Scarangella was in the department when 82 inches of snow fell during 1996.
Mr. Scarangella will review the department's operations from top to bottom and give recommendations on how we can do better, Guardino said.
Although a plow was not needed on Friday, Jan. 5, Town of Hempstead trucks did sprinkle a mixture of sand and salt along roadways at the first sign of snow.
It wasn't many days before that when homeowners in Oceanside spent their New Year's weekend digging out from their first snowstorm of the season, many finding themselves homebound. As sidewalks allowed travel by foot, going anywhere by car was a no go. As of Tuesday morning, Jan. 2, Long Beach Road and most side streets looked just like they did the day the storm hit. As cars and school buses creeped along still-snow- covered roads, residents were enraged at both county and town officials because of poor road conditions.
It's horrible what's going on here. You'd think by now the roads would be cleared, said Renee Macchio, who lives at Henry and Clarke avenues in Oceanside and who was still waiting for her road to be plowed Wednesday morning, Jan. 3. You can't even go out, people are stuck, their wheels spinning in packed snow. Tom Gulotta ran us into the ground, but we pay so much in taxes. To get this poor level of service ... it's terrible.
Donna Kricchio lives on Merle Avenue in Oceanside. As she watched school buses swerve, Kricchio got her son into the car and ready for his first day back to school after winter break. Stepping behind the wheel, she was nervous, hoping she and her son would not end up an accident.
I took my son to school 3 and it was treacherous out there, Kricchio said. Anyone at all could lose control of a vehicle. She arrived home safely, but still decided to make her voice heard. She called the Town of Hempstead Department of Public Safety to complain about hazardous roads and was told the department would file the paperwork. It was like I got a shrug over the phone, she said. She got a similar response from the county highway department. They took my name and number, but said yeah, we know, it was a big storm. After that, she called Dr. Herb Brown, the superintendent of Oceanside schools, who was on the phone taking action with county legislators.
Brown spent his New Year's Day inspecting and evaluating all eight school buildings. And while his buildings and grounds were cleared, his travels through the streets of Oceanside nearly caused him to close schools.
I was absolutely concerned about the conditions of the roads, since I had been on them all day on New Year's Day, Brown said. I called the town and the county. I considered not opening, but when the bus company said they were ready to roll, I figured it was better to have everyone there late than not at all.
With roads still dangerous to drive on, bus drivers were told to take extra time getting children to and from schools.
I was concerned about everyone's safety, especially the children, said George Keller, a vice president of the Atlantic Express Bus Company in Oceanside,. They are my main concern. After traveling along roads in Oceanside, Baldwin, Rockville Centre, Freeport and others, he decided to roll, but with caution. I put the word out to drivers to take their time and told Dr. Brown we would be running 20 minutes to half an hour late, he said, adding that roads were such that only one vehicle at a time could pass. Keller also said his drivers indicated many children did not ride the buses that day.
But Tuesday morning, Brown, still unsatisfied with poor snow removal efforts, called upon local county legislator Jeff Toback, to bring in the troops. Leg. Toback said county planned to pre-treat roads before the snowstorm even began. But with the snow falling four hours earlier than expected, there were problems.
We debated long and hard in the legislature to be ready for a situation like this and we budgeted for snow removal, said Toback.
This was a huge storm, but I am disappointed in the county's preparedness. I wrote Mr. Gulotta a letter that what happened here was unacceptable and asked what the county can do to improve, he said. While Toback said he felt the county did a better job than the Town of Hempstead, neither should get a passing grade.
So... what happened when Mother Nature dropped some 16 inches of snow on Oceanside? Officials at the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County agree the timing and the severity of the storm prolonged the plowing and salting and sanding of roadways.
Everyone expects their roads to be prefect with a 16-inch blizzard, and when we were hit so fast, there are bound to be problems in any municipality, said Bob Davis, superintendent of highway maintenance for the county. Davis said county executive Gulotta called for workers to report to work at 5 a.m., two hours before the National Weather Service predicted the storm would start. By 6 a.m. trucks would have been on roads laying a salt and sand mixture down to prevent buildup. Yet, by 6 a.m. the day of the storm, four inches had already fallen. Mr. Davis said 17 county trucks combed an area within the county including Oceanside, and roads were plowed five times from the time the storm started. The county said private contractors digging out businesses pushed snow into roadways, further hampering snow-removal efforts.
As of Thursday, January 4, the Town of Hempstead had plows and salt and sander trucks doing round-the-clock duty in Oceanside. The timing of the storm and the severity caused problems for us, said town spokesperson Mike McConnell. We didn't have the opportunity to sand when there were just two or three inches on the ground, he added. The town said parked cars along residential roads kept workers from fully doing their job, and asked residents to move cars into driveways whenever a storm hits.
McConnell said many of the employees responsible for removal were new to the job and since the town hasn't seen a storm in years, it was their first go at it. We're always looking for ways to be better, to improve, he added
Yet, residents remain critical about the lack of plowing over the holiday weekend. Island Park School Superintendent Dr. Edward Price said roads near his home in Cold Spring Harbor were cleared through and through as of Saturday evening, Dec. 30. When he arrived in Island Park Tuesday morning, he was surprised to see roads still snow covered.
Roads here were paved through by Tuesday at noon, but you can't let things go for days and do nothing, said Price. Who is at fault? Is it a system where there is no money [for overtime], or the county that allowed the financial crisis to happen in the first place, he added.
