Residents dig out after major storm

Schools close, crews persist to clear roads.

By: Jeff Milgram
   Students got an extra day off, businesses opened their doors and homeowners wearily pulled out their shovels again Tuesday as the great dig out continued in earnest after a monster storm dumped between 17 and 21 inches of snow on the greater Princeton area Sunday and Monday.
   The Princeton Regional, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional and the Montgomery Township school districts all were closed Tuesday, giving students a four-day holiday. Schools were closed Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday.
   The Plainsboro Municipal Building remained closed Tuesday.
   The storm played havoc with municipal budgets and West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh estimated the storm will cost the township $200,000 in supplies, overtime and repairs to some of the snow plows that broke down.
   "This is definitely going to put a big dent in our budget," Mayor Hsueh
said. "There is no question this storm has had a big dent."
   Princeton University closed Monday, but reopened at 10 a.m. Tuesday as grounds crews worked with shovels and small plows to clear snow off the main paths.
   Gov. James E. McGreevey declared a state of emergency across New Jersey, which kept nonessential people off the roads on Monday.
   It pays to plow the snow early and often, according to Princeton Borough Engineer Carl Peters.
   The public works snow removal crews did a thorough job clearing municipal streets so residents could get driveways plowed and start moving again Tuesday, Mr. Peters said.
   "I travel to a lot of places in the state and I’m always impressed by the job our guys do compared with other towns," he said.
   The snow added another challenge to finding a parking space downtown. Princeton Borough Police Chief Charles Davall declared a snow emergency Sunday, which prohibited residents from parking vehicles on municipal streets. That order, he said, is expected to stay in effect until the end of the week.
   While the order also authorized issuing tickets to motorists who parked too far from the curb where parking meters are located, Chief Davall said those violations were not ticketed Tuesday as the meter officers were not scheduled to work. Tickets would only be issued to drivers who parked in a way that impeded the flow of traffic, he said.
   The snow also cut down on parking spaces, with only one side of Witherspoon Street available. The public works and police departments hope to have the large snow piles in the central business district cleared out by Wednesday, Chief Davall said.
   Some borough municipal services were curtailed due to the snow.
   For residents who missed the Monday garbage pickup, trash will be collected Thursday. For residents with Tuesday trash collection, the pickup is rescheduled for Friday.
   Princeton Township declared a snow emergency around 11 a.m. Sunday, during which parked vehicles were prohibited on streets to permit road crews to plow the snow.
   The snow emergency remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon. It was lifted when crews finished clearing the roads early Tuesday evening.
   Princeton Township Police Capt. Peter Savalli said police were out Monday patrolling the streets and responding to reports of disabled vehicles, but said there were no major incidents.
   With businesses closed and residents staying at home, Capt. Savalli said, roads were mostly empty Monday.
   "Residents knew it was coming, which is part of the reason why things were not as hectic as they could have been," the captain said.
   The township’s entire 18-member road crew worked around the clock from Sunday evening to Tuesday evening, using about 300 tons of salt, said Township Engineer Robert Kiser.
   "They were able to get a few hours of sleep, but that’s about it," he said.
   The township had already run through the 1,200 tons of road salt and the operating funds earmarked for snow cleanup this winter prior to the storm, Mr. Kiser said.
   About $45,000 for salt and $30,000 for overtime was spent for storm cleanup, but the extra expense balances out against the past two years, in which only a third of the municipality’s snow-cleanup budget was spent due to mild weather, he said.
   The snow was the brunt of a massive storm that moved in from the south and dumped as much as 4 feet on parts of the Northeast.
   Most businesses were closed Monday but reopened Tuesday.
   Frank Ricatto, owner of Luttman’s on Witherspoon Street, said he couldn’t get out of the driveway of his Lawrence home Monday. On Tuesday, he was clearing the snow in front of his store, knowing full well that business was likely to be light.
   "The chances of seeing customers are quite thin," he said.
   National Weather Service meteorologist Harry Wordsworth in Mount Holly said the storm dumped between 17 and 21 inches of snow in the area, bringing the season’s total to 42 inches. The annual average for this area is about 25 inches, he said.
   He said the storm was in the top 10, but it pales by comparison to the 1996 blizzard that dumped about 30 inches of snow on the area.
   The snowfall nearly buried the bronze J. Seward Johnson sculpture of a boy reading a book while eating a hamburger on Palmer Square. Police used yellow tape to block off a small area at Nassau and Witherspoon Street where ice and snow on roofs threatened pedestrians.
   Road crews worked virtually nonstop since the snow began falling Sunday morning.
   "Our public works team has been working continuously for the past three days," West Windsor Mayor Hsueh said Tuesday. "They started preparing on Saturday and finally got some time off at 6 p.m. last night."
   West Windsor Police Chief Joseph Pica praised the road crews. "They did a great job," he said. "Life is getting back to normal. We really didn’t have any major problems. The holiday and governor’s state of emergency really kept everyone off the roads."
   Plainsboro Police Lt. Elizabeth Bondurant reported that most major roads were cleared of snow.
   "The Department of Public Works is working on the developments today," Lt. Bondurant said Tuesday. "I think it’s still going to be awhile before it’s all cleared up."
   Some problems remained. "The major highways are passable, but many of the exit ramps in our area are still slippery and we’re asking everyone to be cautious on the secondary roads," she said.
   She believed Plainsboro got at least 20 inches of snow.
   "The drifting was the major problem and is still a problem since there are not snow fences up everywhere. I think we’ve got things under control, it will just be a couple of days till we’re all dug out," the police lieutenant said.
   Plainsboro’s deputy mayor, Neil Lewis, the public safety liaison for the Township Committee, was in North Carolina visiting schools with his son over the weekend and made a bee-line back to New Jersey after hearing about the approaching storm.
   "We got back late Saturday, early Sunday morning," he said of his drive back. "Luckily, we managed to get ahead of the storm so traveling was not too bad. When we were in Virginia, we did get caught in some ice, freezing rain, sleet the whole works, but we made it home."
   In the township, Mr. Lewis said the community really pulled together to make it through the storm.
   "Our Department of Public Works has been working around the clock and they did a remarkable job of getting the roads open," he said. "Yesterday I was out with my four-wheel-drive vehicle and saw tons of volunteers from the community, fire and rescue departments helping clear roads. It was great to see everyone working and pulling together."
   He said there weren’t any major accidents or problems yesterday, although one subdivision reported a water line break, but it turned out to just be sprinkler problem.
   Mr. Lewis said he wasn’t sure how the use of salt and other supplies combined with overtime would affect the budget.
   "We always try to budget with some degree of caution for what might be necessary," he said. "I’m not sure how the budget will be affected."
   Montgomery received more than 18 inches of snow Sunday and Monday and sent out 35 public works employees for the cleanup effort, said Public Works Superintendent Jeff Williams.
   Mr. Williams said plowing and digging was hampered slightly after three pieces of snow equipment broke down. Some housing developments were still covered in snow as of Tuesday morning, including Yorkshire Woods and Cherry Valley. He estimated the cleanup would last into this weekend.
   Acting police Lt. Joseph Yanicak said there were no reported accidents or injuries due to the storm.
   Princeton University closed late Sunday but told critical and essential personnel to report Monday. Grounds crews began clearing entryway doors and paths so students could leave their dorms.
   The Frist Campus Center was open Monday and Dining Services staffed the food gallery and Princeton University Store.
   The weather forecast for the remainder of the week will be dominated by a warming trend that could send temperatures into the 40s, Mr. Wordsworth said. The warm spell, coupled with rain during the weekend, could lead to flooding, he said.
Staff writers Jennifer Potash, David Campbell, Gwen Runkle and Paul Sisolak contributed to this story.