PRINCETON: The cleanup continues

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   About 340 PSE&G customers in Princeton Borough and the Township still were without power as of Monday, as the community continued to recover one week after megastorm “Sandy” left behind a trail of downed trees and power lines.
   A work plan, posted on PSE&G’s website, showed that the utility intends to get the 54 borough customers that are still out gradually restored by Thursday. Getting power back for the remaining 285 in the township will take longer, also following a gradual process into the weekend.
   Life started returning to normal Monday, even as the National Weather Service reported that a nor’easter is forecast to hit the region the middle of this week. Commuters went back to work, despite delays along the Northeast Corridor line due to overcrowding at train stations.
   The Dinky, the train line connecting the Princeton University campus with Princeton Junction, remained down. NJ Transit was providing shuttle bus service between the stops, although an agency representative did not return phone calls seeking comment on when service would return to normal.Public schools reopened Monday after being closed all of last week.
   ”Everyone is happy to be there,” said Princeton Superintendent of Schools Judith A. Wilson in a phone interview Monday.
   She said students were going to make up two of the five missed days on Thursday and Friday, as those dates got freed up when the annual teachers convention in Atlantic City was cancelled.
   She said there was some damage to the roof at the high school gym.
   College students returned Monday from fall recess at Princeton University. The university has said that some its off-campus apartment buildings and Shea Rowing Center are without power as of Monday morning.
   The university has aided in post-storm recovery, including opening Jadwin Gym as a polling place.
   Inspectors from the Princeton Regional Health Department continued to make “precautionary inspections” of local food establishments to make sure spoiled food had been disposed of, said Health Officer David A. Henry in a phone interview Monday. He said those inspections started Friday.
   It was not immediately known what the financial impact Sandy will have on municipal government in terms of cleanup and associated manpower costs.
   ”We’re not there yet,” said Township Mayor Chad Goerner of tabulating those expenses.
   Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes’ office announced Monday that the county is eligible for federal disaster assistance, allowing local governments, hospitals, colleges, public schools, residents and businesses to get partial reimbursement of Sandy related costs.
   The whole state is eligible for the assistance.Sandy was technically a post tropical cyclone when it made landfall last week, said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at its Mt. Holly monitoring station.
   A nor’easter, bring 50 m.p.h. winds and about 1 to 2 inches of rain, is due to arrive Wednesday, he said.
   With that forecast in mind, Mr. Goerner said officials have decided to keep open its emergency operations center at Princeton Township Police Headquarters. Also, the “reception center” will remain open at John Witherspoon Middle School, where people can get a shower, warm up and recharge their cell phones, also will remain open, he said.
   Township Engineer Robert Kiser said Monday that borough and township residents can remove hazardous trees without getting a tree removal permit. He said residents are asked to call his office, at 921-7077, to make notification that a tree is being removed.
   Princeton officials also said they are looking to streamline housing repairs after the storm. They said the usually required permits can be issued after a project is started, although officials said contractors have to notify the Princeton Building Department before work starts.
   In some cases, a representative from the Princeton building department would want to take a look at things first before giving a verbal OK, officials said.
   The outages even affected Princeton’s animal shelter, where an effort was underway to bring generators to SAVE. Princeton Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson said Monday one generator was there and another on the way.
   Elsewhere, the Princeton Arts Council announced Monday that it would reopen Tuesday with classes.
   In other parts of the region, Montgomery residents will be able to vote at their normal polling places Tuesday, despite power outages affecting about 500 PSE&G customers as of Monday morning, the town said.
   The town said people still can go to the Otto Kaufman Community Center to get warm or stay overnight, although the center has no showers.
   In West Windsor, utiltities JCPL and PSE&G are making progress on getting everyone powered back up. The township said JCPL has estimated that its customers should have power by Tuesday, while PSE&G has indicated it would take into the weekend.
   Polling locations have moved for five voting districts:
   * polls at Grover Middle School and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church will move to St. David the King Church on 1 New Village Road;
   * the poll at Village School gym has moved to the Mercer Oaks Golf Course County Club House on 725 Village Road west;
   * and the polls at the Charlotte Newcombe Center will be at the Palmer/Clarion Inn at 3499 Route 1 south, in the Heritage room.All other polling places will remain the same, the township said.
   The township said residents can use the showers at Gold’s Gym at 4152 Quakerbridge Road between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m, or go to the Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health and Wellness.
   Also, residents who rely on well water can come to the Senior Center to get five gallons of potable water and another five gallons of hose water for their toiletsThe news was good in Plainsboro, where the town said all homes are with power.
   The local fire department has started a food and clothing drive for impacted residents of Ocean County and parts of Queens and Staten Island in New York City, said fire Lt. Tom Healey.
   He said donations of nonperishable food, clothing and cleaning supplies can be dropped off at the fire house, located on 405 Plainsboro Road, from 5 to 9 p.m on weekdays and between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday.