Last Friday's snow storm inconvenienced many people. Trees and wires came down. Over 7,000 families experienced power outages. And-- some roads were temporarily closed.
Now, that the the storm is over and everyone is warm again (hopefully), it's time to reflect on how the town handled this crisis. The entire Town Board and I welcome your feedback. What do you think we did right? What did we do wrong? How can we improve? Your feedback and input would be appreciated. Please e mail townboard@greenburghny.com with your thoughts.
The Greenburgh Town Board discussed last weeks snow storm at our work session. Councilmembers Sonja Brown, Diana Juettner, Kevin Morgan, Francis Sheehan and I will invite Public Works Commissioner Victor Carosi to present the Town Board with a report at our next Town Board meeting--Wednesday, March 10th. We will also provide residents with an analysis of the costs associated with this storm.
TWO SUGGESTIONS
During the storm we tried to communicate with residents via our e mail system. However, many residents don't subscribe to our e list and were not informed of what was happening. As a result, they were not aware of what the town was doing and how to get help.
I have suggested that we create an e list for residents who only want to be contacted by e mail in the event of emergencies. This e mail list would not be used to update residents on town issues.
Another suggestion: a dedicated phone that would be used during emergencies. The town would record updates during the day on what we're doing, what residents could/should do to be safe/warm. If warming centers/shelters are open we can provide residents with updates re: location, services offered. Status reports on road closures, power outages, etc..could be provided. Important phone numbers (Con Ed, police, shelters, warming centers) could be given out on the emergency phone.
What do you think? What else could/should we do?
Thanks for helping us improve...
PAUL FEINER
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3 comments:
When the power goes out people complain. When Con Ed trims back trees people complain. The reason we lose power is because the trees fall on the wires. People, please trim your trees. This way no one will complain.
If the power is out one would assume that the computer access usually goes with it. Even if you're working on a laptop the batteries go dry sooner or later. Cell phones are usually our only recourse. An emergency number for updates is a good idea...most people knew to call the Greenburgh police for updates during the last storm. Unfortunately they did not have much info from the Town officials.
It was great that the Town opened the community center as an emergency housing center. Good thing they didn't lose power because the Town installed the generator at Town Hall which was closed during the emergency. The generator should be relocated to the community center where food and showers are available. Having it at Town Hall makes no sense.
Did you know that 27% of a typical Con Edison electric bill goes to taxes, fees, and surcharges that have nothing to do with providing your electricity?
State legislators are once again planning to raise your utility bill through hidden taxes -- a bill that already saw one fee increased more than 500% in the 2009 State Budget. That increase alone took another $198 million from Con Edison customers.
Now the Albany legislature is considering the 2010-2011 Executive Budget proposal that would give localities the authority to triple the Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) on utilities. An additional $19 million would be passed on to Con Edison and Orange & Rockland customers throughout Westchester, Orange, and Rockland counties. Furthermore, if New York City also requests an increase in GRT, it would be an additional $54 million. Similar increases will also be seen in gas, water and telephone bills!
We need you to tell the Governor and other elected officials "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH." Send a letter to Governor Paterson and your state representatives to tell them that the hidden taxes and fees in your utility bills are unacceptable and to stop passing legislation that hurts the State's consumers.
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