REGION: Storm dumps foot of snow

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   Residents of Cranbury, Jamesburg and Monroe woke up to a foot of snow Thursday morning after just dealing with a wintry mix the day before.
   Another 2 inches was expected for today as of Thursday morning.
   At Cranbury School, all after-school activities were canceled Wednesday, but, otherwise, it was a regular school day with dismissal at 3 p.m. Cranbury Town Hall had a delayed opening Thursday.
   Despite the tough winter, the Public Works and Police Department of Cranbury have kept things relatively under control, said Committeeman Jay Taylor, liaison to the departments.
   ”Police and Public Works have been working extremely efficiently,” he said. “That’s especially important to helping the town.”
   Mr. Taylor said the police and Public Works don’t overreact when a snowstorm hits.
   ”They look at how to best manage a situation,” he said. “All of them are very cost-conscious. They look at the situation before them and look at the most economical way to do it.”
   He added, “They make fact-based decisions. (Police) Chief (Rickey) Varga, Charley Smith (fire chief) and Jerry Thorne (Public Works director) all have open lines of communication with each other.”
   Mr. Taylor hopes to see the dialogue between these departments continue this year.
   Jamesburg Public School District was open all day Wednesday.
   ”We have no busing so we had a regular day,” said Dr. Gail Verona, superintendent of the school district.
   The Jamesburg Police Department had no accidents to report as of 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
   As of Thursday morning, the Monroe Public Works Department anticipated working until Friday morning to clear and open all of Monroe’s roads. The department had a rough time opening up roads, especially due to the wet snow and rain that fell before the large snowfall overnight.
   ”We got one (storm) right after the other,” said Wayne Horbatt, director of the Monroe Public Works Department.
   The crew worked until 11 p.m. last night. At 11, another crew came in with 14 people and two foremen, Mr. Horbatt explained.
   ”The big problem is the accumulation,” he said. “Last night, we got another 12 inches. The snow was a wet, heavy snow, which changes the whole picture. We got a lot of vehicles stuck. It’s dealing with a different situation.”
   He explained the snow in December was light and fluffy.
   Despite the bad winter, Mr. Horbatt said supplies are not running out, and expenses are not yet causing any problems.
   ”We keep tabs and check our fuel tanks often,” he said. “After a storm, we look at the salt we have and replenish right away.”
   He added Public Works just bought a single-axle dump truck Tuesday and got it registered right away so it could help with snow removal.
   ”I believe we had snow from the December storm still on the ground,” Mr. Horbatt said. “A good guess is we have 18 to 20 inches on the ground.”
   He also explained the process of clearing roads after so much snow.
   ”We do primary roads first for emergency vehicles, then the secondary roads and subdivisions,” he said. “Then when (the snow) stops, we do a good cleanup. First you want to get in there and get main roads opened up.”
   He added the vehicles get a lot more done at night since the roads aren’t as busy.
   Even when daytime came though, Monroe was, for the most part, a quiet town Thursday.
   Monroe public schools had an early dismissal Wednesday, and after-school activities were canceled.
   Monroe public schools were closed yesterday, and Monroe municipal offices were closed until 8:30 a.m. today.