ROOSEVELT — Newcomer Ralph Warnick and third-term council member Peggy Malkin took their oaths of office at the Borough Council’s reorganization meeting Jan. 3.
The council unanimously appointed Jeff Ellentuck as council president. The council also made other appointments.
Malkin will serve as the council’s representative to the senior organization. Councilman Daniel Hoffman will serve as representative to the Board of Education. Warnick will serve as representative to the Recreation Committee, and his wife, Nancy, will be the borough’s representative to the Community Development Block Grant program. Michael Ticktin will serve as her alternate.
Mayor Beth Battel appointed Ticktin as Class 2 official, Alison Petrillo as Class 4 member and Michael Hamilton as third alternate member of the Planning Board. Councilwoman Arlene Stinson will serve as the council’s representative on the board.
Chairing the borough’s various committees will be as follows: Ellentuck, Utilities Committee; Malkin, Finance Committee; Warnick, Community Development; Hoffman, EnvironmentalCommittee; Stinson, Administration Committee; and Tom Curry, Public Works Committee.
After the reorganization, community members discussed the borough’s cleanup of the holiday snowstorm.
John Rindt, a member of the first aid squad, asked the council if public works employees could plow the driveways of emergency service workers during snowstorms. He also asked if employees could plow the edges of the driveways differently so volunteers wouldn’t have to get over big humps of snow.
First Aid Squad member Melissa Branco said there are 10 emergency worker addresses in town that need to be plowed during and after snowstorms. She also noted that the ambulances were blocked in during the recent snowstorm. Of the two ambulances, one could not get out and the other was partially encumbered, she said.
“We had to clear it ourselves and find our own plow,” Branco said.
Curry said the town has one plow and two part-time public works employees. He said he would give the list of emergencyworker addresses to the employees but couldn’t guarantee clear driveways for emergency service workers after a storm like the recent one.
Hoffman noted that many borough roads had only one traffic lane eight days after the storm. He asked if public works employees could push back snow as they plow the roads. Curry said that could lead to residents having to shovel their driveways again.
“I’m not sure our truck can handle it,” Curry said. “It’s solid ice in the morning. It would have to wait until afternoon when it gets softer.”
Another suggestion was to plow out areas on the roads where one vehicle could pull over if another vehicle going in the opposite direction had to pass.