JACKSON — One month after a storm dumped 24 inches of snow on Jackson, municipal officials are still assessing the town’s response to the emergency situation.
Officials were criticized in the days after the storm for what some people said was a poor job of clearing local roads. The storm occurred on a Saturday and school was closed the following Monday and Tuesday.
A meeting was held on Jan. 6 that was attended by Mayor Mike Reina, Township Council President Mike Kafton, Councilman Ken Bressi, Jackson Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella, Jackson Business Administrator Phil Del Turco, Township Engineer Dan Burke and Fred Rasiewicz, the director of the Department of Public Works.
Representatives of the Jackson Police Department, DPW, fire companies and emergency response units also attended the meeting.
Kafton said, “Because we received hundreds of phone calls from stranded residents, Mr. Bressi and I are currently looking into the issues resulting from the recent storm, and until we are able to gather all the necessary information, I do not feel it would be prudent to comment further.”
Bressi said one thing the people who attended the Jan. 6 meeting agreed on was that the employees did the best they could during the storm. He said officials are trying to figure out where they can improve if another storm that size hits Jackson.
“The workers themselves, the laborers, the office staffs, they all did their job,” Bressi said. “We as a town have to get together and see what we will do if we have another 24-inch storm. They [the workers] broke their necks out there, but there are some things we can put in place for the future, and [Kafton] and I will be looking at that.”
Gialanella said it is always productive to regroup after an event like the Dec. 19 storm to discuss ways to improve.
“It was a productive meeting where we discussed communication, capabilities and response,” he said. “I think everyone is eager to find ways we can share services and work together to respond and communicate.”
Data was presented to support the actions and efforts that Jackson’s employees and contractors put forth during the storm.
Reina said there was some equipment failure that hindered the cleanup effort slightly, and there were emergencies that cropped up during the cleanup.
The mayor was referring to two emergencies requiring ambulances, an emergency requiring a fire truck, a pregnant woman who had to get to a hospital, and a call from the New Jersey State Police to help deliver food to an elderly couple.
“We also discussed how we could improve our efforts, should we experience a snowfall like this in the near future,” Reina said. The mayor said one issue that arose during the storm was the need for assistance from residents to have obstacles such as basketball hoops, vehicles and other impediments removed from the streets when a storm is expected or has arrived. Doing so would make it easier to plow the streets, Reina said.
Another issue raised concerned the possible purchase of multipurpose equipment that could be used for leaf pickup as well as for snow removal.
Given the challenges Jackson faced during the Dec. 19 snowstorm, Reina and other municipal officials indicated they were satisfied with the hard work and dedication of all township employees.