Residents Furious About Road Conditions, Lack of Power

Update 4:43 p.m.: Stoneleigh Park resident Donald Furrer reports that the Department of Public Works removed the tree within 30 minutes earlier this afternoon but power has yet to be restored. 

Residents on Nelson Place are still without power though neighboring streets Clark, Ludlow Pl, Cowperthwaite and Prospect have electricity.

A resident of Kimball Avenue across from Wilson school reports power has returned to only some residents, but many, including his family, remain in the dark and cold.

"The explanation that the trees need to be removed first does not apply in the area," the resident stated in an email to Patch and the Town Council. "Over the weekend, the tree services removed most if not all of the trees, and we have been patiently waiting for PSE&G to perform the next task. But PSE&G are nowhere to be found. At the corner of North Chestnut and Kimball, for example, downed wires continue to dangle within feet of Wilson school, leaving power out for many homes. The tree that knocked down the was removed days ago. There is no pole or transformer to be replaced."

He has asked why PSE&G has "not performed the obvious next follow-up step, and if they do have a plan, what is it?"

Original: Patience is becoming more scarce than power in Westfield as thousands of residents are still without heat and electricity one week after Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey.

Downed trees and fallen wires litter the streets of Westfield and anxious residents are asking why PSE&G crews and the Department of Public Works can't work together to restore power as quickly as possible.

"PSEG and Town Hall are going back and forth as to who is responsible to remove the tree by Rahway and Shadowlawn," wrote Stoneleigh Park resident Donald Furrer in an email to Patch, Mayor Andy Skibitsky and members of the Town Council. "This bureaucracy has been going on for days, and it the reason for the lack of power returning to parts of Stoneleigh Park and other areas. This is the reason the road is still closed. Can someone let me know how we get this resolved? I would expect that both parties would be working in conjunction to get this resolved, not tossing the responsibility back and forth. Everyone knows what has to be done. The tree needs to be taken down, and the wires replaced. Can we please figure out a way to get this resolved?"

Third Ward Councilman David Haas responded by saying, "First of all let me assure you that the town and PSEG are working together. We sent police to escort them around town and followed with tree crews to work with them. I have sat in on several updates with PSEG in the administrators conference room. In one of them this very question was asked of the people at PSEG. They made it clear that we should not work on trees until PSEG lets us know that the power is off. They also agreed to try and get their linemen to stop giving out what they acknowledge to be wrong information.

"Throughout this process we have been frustrated that even when we have line crews in town we can't get them to check out the lines on major streets to tell us if they are live. I can only guess that the people at PSEG responsible for letting us know that we can work on the trees are not the same people as those responsible for the linemen. It took days to get East Broad checked out and then a couple more to get Lamberts Mill checked out - Central has taken another couple of days. We have been ready to move on this problem the moment the officials at PSEG tell us we can.

Please be assured that we have expressed to PSEG the urgency of the situation on Rahway. We have also told them about this information being given out and THEY HAVE AGREED WITH US THAT WE SHOULDN'T TOUCH TREES NEAR WIRES UNTIL THEY GIVE US THE GO-AHEAD."

Another Westfielder, who lives near Central and Boynton Avenues, sent a photo of a tree that has not been touched since the storm occurred. 

"This leaves all the residents between and including Central Ave. and Boynton without power. We feel as if we have been forgotten!" the resident wrote in an email to Patch. "It is very cold at night."

On its Twitter feed, the Town of Westfield wrote: "PSE&G has advised the State that it intends to have Westfield fully electrified by tonight" and then added "There will be exceptions for those with lines down on their street or leading to their homes."  

When Patch reached out to Fourth Ward Councilman Keith Loughlin to inquire about the validity of those statements, he responded, "There are currently extensive areas of town without power so I cannot speculate on when all homes will be restored."

Jeffrey Laderman, of Sunset Avenue, and his wife, lost power shortly after 9 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 29 and though they reported it immediately, there seems to be some confusion about when the outage was reported.

"Last night, there were some lights on in Wychwood but the parts of Wychwood closer to us were dark," Laderman said. "When my wife called an PSE&G hotline this morning, she got an automated message that we did not have a reported outage. She called me, almost in tears. I then called myself, and got to a real person who obviously was totally unfamiliar with New Jersey. She said there was a record of our outage, but I asked if there was an indication of when it was called in, she said she couldn't tell. I asked her about restoration and she told me Nov 10. I said, 'Is that specific to me or is that what you tell everybody?' She said, 'It could be anytime up to Nov 10.'

"This is a catastrophic event for our part of the country, but utilities are supposed to be prepared for it--especially in customer relations."

Voting Changes

The Town has announced changes to voting locations. Those who normally vote at the Wilson School (Ward 2, Districts 4 & 5), now vote at the Franklin School. If you normally vote at the Washington School (Ward 2, Districts 2, 3 & 6), you will vote at the Roosevelt School.

Schools Closed 

All Westfield public schools will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 6. The decision was based on strong recommendations made by Westfield Chief of Police David Wayman regarding the safety of students, said Board of Education president Rich Mattessich.