SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Town mobilizes for snow

by Davy James, Staff Writer
   March came in like a lion Sunday evening with a snowstorm that caused a number of minor accidents and forced township schools and municipal buildings to close Monday.
   The storm, which brought between six and seven inches of snow, had municipal employees working through the night on Sunday and into Monday.
   ”Our Public Works is second to none and hit the main roads first and then hit the secondary roads,” said Public Affairs Coordinator Ron Schmalz. “The snow wasn’t the slushy type so they had a good handle on it.”
   Plows and salt spreaders began working around 9 p.m. Sunday and worked through the early afternoon on Monday.
   All township schools and Board of Education offices were closed, which eliminates a planned school holiday in the spring.
   ”The decision was made to close the schools on Sunday night,” said Public Information Officer Rebecca Leonard. “This will affect our school calendar. We had a five-day weekend scheduled in May so we had to take two days off of that.”
   The district built three emergency closing days into this year’s school calendar. Due to closings caused by inclement weather on Jan. 28 and Monday, schools will be in session on May 22 and May 26. If there is another school closing, the third date set aside for makeup is April 13. If there are no more emergency closings that date will be a school holiday and schools will be closed.
   Police had their hands full throughout early Sunday morning dealing with a number of minor accidents.
   ”There were seven accidents throughout the community from about 4 a.m. on Monday morning until about 11:30 p.m. Monday night,” said Sgt. Hugh McNeil, assistant public information officer with the Police Department. “There were no major accidents, just situations like a car sliding off the road and hitting a pole.”