Still got piles of branches in front of your house (I keep waiting for Holly to come up with a great debris-related craft or drink…)? In Montclair, one-third of the township has been cleared, but it’s expected to take another five and half weeks before remaining streets clear up (keep your fingers crossed that we don’t see snow before then…). Here’s the official word from the town:
Township Storm Debris Collection Update
Given the considerable amount of tree debris left in the wake of the October 29 snowstorm, the Township offered residents assistance with removing residential tree debris. The Township also relaxed tree disposal regulations that would have required residents to bundle debris. As a result of this added service level, Community Services Department staff must spend considerable time cutting and chipping tree debris prior to carting it away for disposal. This means that a great deal of time is required to collect the many piles of very large branches left after the storm.
To date, collection operations have cleared debris in one third of the Township, resulting in the removal of 3,642 cubic yards of debris. On an average day the Township has removed twelve loads of debris — this is double the amount of refuse collected on an average day.
An exact street-by-street pick-up schedule cannot be determined because of the substantial, time-consuming preparatory measures necessary to remove the very large piles of sizable branches.
Moving forward, Community Services debris removal operations will split the Township into two sections — the southern and northern areas, working in both areas at the same time. A debris collection map will be provided next week.
Our estimates are that the entire residential tree debris removal operation will take another five and a half weeks.
The Township continues to ask residents to be patient. All Montclair streets will be cleared.
Tell us if your street is clear or decorated with debris…
Streets not yet cleared in the Wayside/Stonebridge/Eagle Rock Way/Llewellyn Rd. area. Some people seem to be giving up and having their landscapers take the stuff. But the town has been taking our leaf bags!
Carolin Road, Aubrey Road and our end of North Fullerton still piled high with branches.
Stanford Pl., Cleveland Rd, Dodd St cleared yesterday.
My street was cleared yesterday and today – starting at 7 AM each day. Hopefully they’ll keep up the quick pace that I witnessed the last two days.
Also, my husband drove through Verona and North Caldwell today and said it looked many times worse than Montclair.
Kenneth Road still has debris, but I figured they’d need lots of time.
I was just mentioning this to someone last night. It’s almost a month since the storm and piles of leaves, branches and other debris (some very large) are still in evidence in West Orange and the surrounding towns. I thought for sure they would be gone by Thanksgiving. Not only is it unaesthetic, it’s a road hazard, especially at night. It can also be a fire hazard. As another poster said, it would be nice if they can be removed before the next snowfall. Wishful thinking.
Glen Ridge is almost totally cleaned up — but we do have the advantage of our small size. This week I was watching the Bloomfield DPW trying to scoop up piles of branches with a bucket loader, positioned perpendicularly accross the street, and a dump truck. It was spectacularly inefficient. I’m pretty sure the GR DPW used their hands. Today in Caldwell they were doing it with bucket loaders too. They closed the street. It’s also impressively stupid and thoughtless of residents to pile the branches in the street, as we saw on Upper Mountain Avenue today, and in Caldwell.
We’ve got family in from out of town and it’s been hilarious to see their incredulous reaction to all the piles of branches everywhere and how long it’s taking for the town to clean them up. Of course for us it’s just business as usual.
Well, I know yez all pay taxes (as do I), but back in my day, in the old country, we’d grab Tommy Rooney and head down to the Scullys. Roughly 78 Scullys lived in that house, and each one was as big as a house.
They’d rig up a few horses, bang on a few doors, and before you knew it all of the shite would be out of the road (though shebeen might be a more accurate description).
I know! Things are different now. But after all, if you wait around for someone else to take care of things, you’ll wait a long, long time.
Okay, cro, I’m a gonna git out dere an start cleanin’ up dem darn brachnes meseff.
At this point I have asked the Manager to put together a priority list of streets. I understand that there has been at least one serious accident where a car going around a branch filled roadway veered into another, parked car. I also understand that there are many complaints of cars being scratched and damaged as they try and traverse the roadways.
Highland is one such street, and I’ve submitted the names of several others to the Manager.
I indicated to him that the Council, for the last month, had been willing to pass authority for him to spend money on this work.
Then again I’m not sure it matters to other Councilors.
Cary Africk
You gwan and git started, ‘roo, and I’ll be along presently to supervise.
Cary,
you are politicizing the clean up from this massive storm?
really?
jc,
I can no NOTHING alone. I am working on this issue daily. I write email after email, make call after call. The urgency doesn’t seem to be there. I’ve reached outside to knowledgeable people who think we can be doing more. I’ve talked to friends that I have who own landscaping firms. I think we can do more. I think we can clear the streets before the first snowfall.
Yes, “our people” are working hard, but our “leaders” must support them. That means if they need outside contractors, we can’t hide behind excuses that we haven’t passed emergency authorization for outside services, or rental equipment.
I’ve reached out to private contractors, who I believe hold the solution to getting this done NOW.
So, yes, I am complaining that some aren’t stepping up to the plate.
In four weeks, when the snow covers branch filled roads, we can touch base again.
Cary Africk
Hey Cary, please put Upper Mountain Ave on your list of high priority streets. All the cars that zip up and down our street simply should not have to face any obstacles that might slow them down to the actual speed limit. (Someone even hit a dog last week and didn’t even bother to put on the brake lights.) Sarcasm aside, it’s a heavily traveled street and the branches need to be cleared. We have a nice big scratch on our car now, too, because of the branches jutting out into the road.
However, and I know this will not endear me to many posters here–but who said I am on here to make friends–I don’t really understand why most homeowners have not bothered to make an effort to clear the branches themselves or make it a little easier on the town by cutting them and tying them up. The branches just fall into the street and they shrug and say, “Hey, I pay high taxes! These gigantic branches that fell from my trees on my property are the town’s problem! I dragged them to the curb and my job is done!”
There was a third option: to ask each home owner to dispose of his or her own branches, including the very few that might have dropped from town trees.
Oh, the outrage that would have ensued! Many people would have refused, of course, and would have taken up the immortal cry, “for the taxes I pay!” But many more, I’d wager, would have heeded the call of self-reliance and community spirit and done the work themselves or paid the few hundred bucks for a contractor to do it.
Instead, we had town “leaders” caving in to the first greedy impulses of Tudlow’s neighbors on Upper Mountain Ave and elsewhere. Our “leaders” decided that the town would take everything, even though they knew from the git go that this commitment would lead to utter chaos. (Wait til it snows.)
This was a missed opportunity for townsfolk to be called upon to chip in (pardon the pun) and do their part on a project that would have helped everyone.
The “brush” that I think the Town needs to clear away is the limbs that are anywhere from six to twenty feet long — the massive stuff. And, yes, there is other stuff that properly should have been taken away by the homeowners themselves.
The “proper” way to get rid of the big stuff is to chip it.
I agree w Tudlow that Mountain Ave should be prioritized. I’d also like to add Valley Rd into the mix. It seems sort of common sense that more heavily trafficked roads should be cleared amongst the first (first any that are completely blocked or pose an immediate risk). Half of the sidewalks on Mountain are blocked b/c of tree limbs, branches, etc. being piled on them and sitting and sitting. Does the town not remember the hit and run accident a few weeks ago? Not having safe sidewalks is only going to lead to more accidents. Not to mention, while able bodied individuals can walk across people’s yards or in the middle of the street to get around the debris, what about people w strollers or individuals in wheelchairs?
Oh, and for the love of god, can the town not do something about the wire that has been downed on the front lawn of Edgemont Park (the lawn before you cross the bridge into the “main” park)? I hope given the fact it’s been there for over a month that it’s not an actual live wire since I see children and dogs on that front lawn all the time. Now it’s half hidden by leaves, and soon snow.
Come on, CAry. Hurry up! Get a move on! Oh, and by the way, I think the town should make my street a priority because, you know, it would help others.
Tudlow- who has made many friends here- is exactly right. While the Town has work to do, far too many homeowners have exacerbated the problem by failing to consider drivers and pedestrians as their debris blocks streets and sidewalks.
These homeowners (the same ones who call the Fire Dept. to get their basements pumped, I bet), or their hired lawn/tree service companies should be fined in the same way homeowners who fail to shovel snow get slapped with a $100 ticket.
THIS is the one thing I DRILLED into the help as they cleaned up my Estate– I told them: “Make sure the street is clear! And don’t forget the sidewalk!”
And they listened.
I’m with you Prof. My yard was cleared in 3 days with no branches or debris left in the street for “others” to pick up. If every one would simply take care of their own property Montclair would have been cleared weeks ago. Upper Mountain Ave is a disaster, shame on those home owners with debris hanging over the street.
In West Orange, you are permitted to rake your leaves and other debris to the curb for pickup by the town. Usually, the township is pretty good about picking it up, coming by every other week to do so. It has been a month now, however, since the storm. That is unacceptable. We do not own a wood chipper (shades of “Fargo?”) and neither do any of my neighbors and to infer that we should purchase one to be more “self-reliant” is ridiculous. This would probably be the only time we would use it. As Cary points out, some of these limbs are 10- 20-feet long and are very heavy. Plus, where do you put it all? Out compost heaps are at capacity and so are most of my neighbors’ (those who compost). So yes, this IS the town’s responsibility.
If some of us folks spent half the time cleaning up our own yard as they do whining on B-net, there would be no problem. If you want to be the OWNER of a property then you have a responsibility to maintain it. If you are not able to clean up after a storm, hire some one who can, or sell it and move back to the city. Our government is broke, on every level and we can’t afford a nanny like state to take care of what clearly is your RESPONSIBILITY. If you have waited a month for big brother to clean YOUR yard let me ask you, how is that working out for you?
The mistake that the town made was to turn a blind eye and allow seemingly unlimited curbing of tree stuff. I’d wager half of the arboreal mountain is trimmings of opportunity.
In the day or two after the storm, it seemed a giving gesture of the municipality to provide open arms for dead limbs, but our financial branch is saddling an untold expense to absorb the back forty trimmings of an advantageous “lot.”
Sheepy, you sound like a very angry person. Just a guess. I am not asking the municipality to clean my yard. I just spent three hours out back just today alone. I am asking that it fulfill it’s responsibility to taxpayers and remove the downed tree limbs (which had leaves on them at the time) that fell in our yards during a storm that took place nearly a month ago. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a road and fire hazard; it’s not just a question of aesthetics. This is not a lot to ask.
I drove by a house that had two palm trees at the curb, roots and all. Go figure.
My lazy neighbor has dragged out big limbs to the curb. They’re in the street, over the side walk and partially in their yard. The limbs that fell in my yard were chopped up and stacked neatly at the curb. The leaves were hand raked and bagged. The Town has picked every thing up in front of my yard while my neighbor is probably wondering who I “know”, because their debris hasn’t been touched. MM, chop every thing into small manageable piles and the Town will take it. You spent 3 hours cleaning your yard, thank you, it’s a good start.
Again with the assumptions! Sheepy, it’s not just me who’s complaining. It’s EVERY house on the street, chopped up piles or not. No one has had their debris removed in nearly a month. That is unacceptable. If you knew something about West Orange, you would know that they don’t want you to bag leaves (they will not take them bagged), they ask that you rake them to the curb. So we are doing everything right. If you want to point the lazy finger, point it at the township.
It’s my understanding that West Orange uses large vacuum cleaner machinery to come and pick up the leaves.
Meanwhile- Essex County has not cleaned the streets that are their responsibility In Bloomfield Broad St has not been cleaned nor have the other county roads.
The Division of Roads and Transportation
The Division of Roads and Transportation is comprised of the Office of Fleet Management and the Office of Roads and Bridges. The Office of Fleet Management is responsible for providing safe, reliable and economical vehicles for use; as well as the maintenance and repair of those vehicles. The Office of Roads and Bridges, working in conjunction with the Office of Engineering, aides in providing safe, serviceable, and aesthetically pleasing roadways. This is accomplished through periodical street cleaning, leaf pick-ups, and general roadside maintenance.
A/Director Division of Roads & Transportation Sal Macaluso
(T) 973-239-3366 x2380 (F) 973-239-0152
smacaluso@essexcountynj.org
Director & County Engineer Sanjeev Varghese
(T) 973-226-8500 x2660 (F) 973-226-7469
svarghese@essexcountynj.org
http://www.essex-countynj.org/index.php?section=dept/pw/o
I can’t fault the Township on this one MM. We had a freak storm and many people didn’t do a good job cleaning up their property. As floyd and deadeye point out, some folks took advantage of the situation. They left huge limbs on the streets and sidewalks which slowed the whole cleaning process. Point the finger at those lazy sob’s, they’re easy to spot, just look at the mess in front of their homes.
Well, I called the Township Public Works today and they informed me that they “know about the problem and are working on it.” M’kay.