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Snow Damage: Will The Highway Department Help?

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Feb 122013
 

 

This shield goes up on Meetinghouse Lane every year, and when the snow is gone, the mailbox is still there.

Do You Know How Orange Highway Handles Snow And Mailboxes? Before the storm, Orange Live reminded residents to construct snow shields at their mailboxes to protect them from the pressure of the plowed snow hitting them.

Residents are responsible for repair/replacement of their own mailboxes. Highway Department will not be making any repairs.

And, as snow is “pushed back” to widen roads, residents will find snow pushed into their (probably already plowed) driveways. No highway trucks will be dispatched to remove this snow.

It’s up to residents to clear snow from the entry of their own driveways and to clear access to their mailboxes (if they are still standing).

If they need the name of a local contractor they may call highway at 203-891-4775 for some names and numbers.

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Highway/Public Works Department Readies for Snow Storm

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Feb 072013
 

Town Trucks are Ready

The town Highway/Public Works Department is ready to take on Nemo this weekend.

Foreman Don Foyer said the plows are ready to go and the crews will deal with the storm as it comes.

Orange has enough salt/sand to handle the predicted situation and according to Foyer, they won’t use as much of that material since, for the most part there is more plowing than anything else with this type of storm.

Many homeowners already have placed plywood shields around thier mailboxes to protect them from damage from the pressure of the snow pushed over by the snow plows. If you haven’t it’s a good idea to do so as soon as possible.

Residents are reminded not to park on the road during the storm because cars will be tagged and towed at the owners expense.

If you are an Orange resident in need of sand to deal with icy driveways or walkways at your home, sand is available in the town Highway Department salt/sand shed behind Fire Station #2 off of Lambert and the Boston Post Road.

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From The UI, Priority List and 95% Restoration Goal

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Nov 012012
 
On Friday, Oct. 26, the Emergency Management Team met at the Orange Police Department to discuss plans and protocol for the upcoming hurricane.
One-by-one each of the 19 members laid out their priorities and shared ideas on how to make things easier on townspeople in the worst case scenario.
United Illuminating agreed to have crews available with the strike teams for immediate emergency situations, such as shut offs where there was a fire hazard.
It also gave the Team its restoration priority list. Priorities are explained as follows on the UI website: Orange’s priorities are in RED.
Restoration Priorities

Service restoration depends on the magnitude and duration of the storm or other event causing the service interruptions. UI’s general sequence of service restoration is:

First Priority

Police and Highway Departments

  • Public safety requires the de-energizing or cutting down of downed primary voltage distribution lines, including road clearing.
  • Restoration of service to previously designated public emergency service institutions such as major hospitals, evacuation centers, as prioritized by municipal officials.

Second Priority

High Plains Community Center, Turkey Hill School, Fire Station 1, Orange Healthcare, Maplewood (other senior asst. living) and Stop & Shop

  • Service restoration to a maximum number of customers in a minimum amount of time using available work forces. This usually involves the removal of trees and limbs, the bypassing of some damaged equipment and the re-energizing of primary voltage distribution lines.

Third Priority

  • The repair and restoration of equipment and lines serving small groups of customers.

Fourth Priority

  • Although the restoration of service lines to individual homes or buildings is designated as Priority 4, they will in most cases be done at the same time as other restoration work designated with a higher priority. This is accomplished by using crews not normally associated with distribution restoration work.

In some cases, storms may damage electrical equipment on a customer’s property that’s not part of UI’s electrical system. It is the customer’s responsibility to repair this damage before we can restore service. The pamphlet linked below may be able to help you determine who is responsible for repairing damaged equipment.

At the meeting, the UI explained that damage assessment forms would be available and relayed directly to the Emergency Operations Center, based at the Police Department.

Each was assessed once they were up and running to determine what areas could be restored fastest and then go out to the tier two areas and work on them in order of whichever could be restored fastest.

This morning before sunrise the UI put out a statement that they planned to restore 95% of its customer’s power by Monday at Midnight.

That is ALL of the company’s customers, so, exactly 95% of Orange or 95% of Milford may NOT necessarily be back by that time, but If all goes as planned 95% of its ENTIRE customer base should be back up and running.

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