East Hampton Town Council Holds Emergency Meeting

The East Hampton Town Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday night to hear from local officials as to where the town is at with its recovery from the damage caused by Hurricane Irene.

Of the utmost concern was the loss of power throughout town. For most of the day, East Hampton continued to be completely without electricity. As a result, the opening of school has been delayed until Sept. 6 and many town offices have been closed. Town hall has been open with limited services.

Ironically, just prior to the 6 p.m. meeting, reports of power being restored in some areas of town began to filter in. From the area of the Route 66 and Route 16 intersection up to and including Spice Hill had power. Viola Drive, Forest Street and few other isolated areas did as well.

As encouraging as that was, the reality is it could be several more days before power is restored throughout town. As of 11 p.m., 71 percent of East Hampton was without power.

Trees still blocked several roads, including Smith Street, Maple Street, Sherry Drive, Mott Hill, Clark Hill and others. In some cases, families had no way out.

Where trees and branches are down involving wires, it is up to CL&P, not the town, to clear it.

“We don’t touch any trees with wires because we just don’t know,” Director of Public Works Keith Hayden said.

Town officials and residents expressed frustration and concern over roads still not being passable.

Matt Walton of Sherry Drive said, “Three days is a long time.”

Hayden has communicated to CL&P which roads were a priority and as of Tuesday evening, some of the blocked roads had or were being cleared.

“We’re pretty caught up with what we could do,” Hayden said, referring to the town’s ability to clear roads. “We have some ability to direct [CL&P] to where we’d like them to go next. I’m going to keep telling them where we’d like them to be.”

Some residents have been choosing not to wait.

“We’ve had a number of roads with that happening,” Hayden said.  "Residents took it upon themselves to get access one way or another. It’s not advisable to be chainsawing into a tree with wires in it. You think it’s dead because you don’t have any power but you don’t know if the guy down the road is backfeeding the grid with his generator because he doesn’t know how to hook it up. So, it’s not advised, and it’s kind of a scary thing that’s going on.”

Another reason not to, the power could come back on while you’re cutting up the tree or branch.

The response from CL&P with regards to road cleanup also was a concern of the fire department., which did not have access to some parts of town with its fire apparatus.

“I think we need to have a meeting with some of the folks from CL&P, but I think what I’ve learned today is that most of this is falling on the responsibility of CL&P,” town council chair Melissa Engel said. “People being trapped, that’s just something that rests well with none of us.”

One of the frustrating aspects of the town’s recovery has been an inability for local officials to communicate with residents. With no power, phones, internet and spotty cell phone service, many people simply don’t know what the town’s situation is and what services are being provided.

As an example, the high school is available for residents to shower and charge cell phones, laptops and other electronics. Snacks, baby formula and bottled water also are available. People can bring empty containers as well to fill with water. The high school will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through at least Friday. It is possible those hours will be extended to 10 p.m., but that decision has not been finalized. People can also fill containers with water using the spigot to the left of the outside of the  main entrance of the high school, even when it is closed.

Ice, too, is available for free and with delivery to your home by calling Chris at Nationwide Insurance at 860-539-1843.

Senior Services Coordinator Jo Ann Ewing has been looking out for her members. Ewing has contacted seniors and when necessary has asked the police to do well-being checks.

“We did several well-being checks for her and other people around town, to make sure they were fine or needed anything,” Police Chief Matt Reimondo said. “It’s gone very smoothly.”

Getting this information out continues to be a problem.

Notices have begun being posted around town and the town council voted to purchase a banner to be put up in front of town hall with important information. Town hall also is open should residents have any questions.

As for the decision to delay the opening of school to Sept. 6, School Superintendent Dr. Judith Golden said “The day-to-day thing just wasn’t going to work.” No decision has been made as to how those days will be made up.

The council also voted to waive the fee for disposing brush at the transfer station this Saturday and each Saturday during September. The transfer station also will be open on Wednesday during September, with brush fees waived those days as well. No sticker will be needed, though proof of residency, such as a driver’s license, will be required. The town will not be picking up brush. Lastly, the council voted to allow residents to have till Sept. 7 to pay their taxes without being considered delinquent for the month of September.

Despite all the problems and inconveniences caused by Irene, there was praise for how the town responded, from the teamwork to the prompt responses by police, even for the town council calling Tuesday night’s emergency meeting.