Some Residents Still in the Dark

Some Wyckoff residents still remain without heat or power, five days after devastating rain and winds battered the region.

As of noon today, PSE&G spokesperson Karen Johnson estimated that there were 7,000 homes in Bergen County still without power after downed lines and transformer failures shut the lights for tens of thousands of Bergen residents over the past five days. While an estimated 97 percent of outages have been dealt with, township residents are among the small minority still struggling.

Presently, a large swath of Wyckoff Avenue, from roughly Butternut Avenue past Cornell Street, still remains without power with no estimates on when service may be restored. A series of snapped telephone poles and downed trees took down utility lines along the thoroughfare, which is a heavily traveled route for anyone coming to and from Midland Park via Goffle Road.

The conditions have forced the township to block the roadway from approximately Cornell Street to Lafayette Avenue, while compromised utility lines keep Wyckoff Avenue closed from Heights to Glendale roads.

Mayor Rudy Boonstra said the damage was "more extensive than we thought," as he personally assessed the situation this afternoon with Committeeman Kevin Rooney. Both representatives have joined with other Township Committee members and police Chief Benjamin Fox in repeatedly requesting assistance from PSE&G, which repaired much of the township's problems Tuesday.

Until the utility company responds, the township has little recourse but to block affected streets and clear roadways, where possible. PSE&G must come out to assess each instance of compromised lines before township police and/or Department of Public Works personnel can do any significant work.

Boonstra said the "residents are being patient" for the most part, although frustrations are starting to mount. Rooney said the township has been fielding calls from those who question why nearby neighbors may have power back while they remain in the dark, but township officials can't do much to address the situation save for what they have been doing: calling, e-mailing and generally pressuring PSE&G to respond to certain areas.

"It's a PSE&G problem," Boonstra said.

The mayor was particularly frustrated with the continued outages along Wyckoff Avenue, saying the situation is especially difficult for the high concentration of senior residents in that area. Additionally, the police tape, cones, roadblocks and dangling wires would pose a significant problem for responders should a resident experience a medical emergency or if there was a house fire, Rooney said.

As of this afternoon, Boonstra and Rooney were in contact with several PSE&G representatives, trying to get some attention paid to that neighborhood. 

The residents of the Cedar Hill condominiums fared a bit better, as PSE&G crews are presently working to repair three burnt lines at the corner of Sicomac Road and Wellfleet Lane. Thirty-three of the condos, which are populated by mostly seniors, had still been without power as of this morning, prompting Rooney to write a utility representative that it "is hard to fathom the lack of response from PSE&G" considering the population.

Rooney said crews identified the utility installation at the aforementioned intersection as the source of the condos' problems last night. Downed trees had impacted the lines stemming from the utility pole, eventually causing them to burn straight down to the ground. 

At least two utility trucks were observed working on the problem as of this afternoon; power should be restored by this evening.

Otherwise, the majority of the township had been restored by Tuesday or early this morning, with Christian Health Care Center and Eastern Christian Children's Retreat getting power back at approximately 4 a.m.

Additionally, Department of Public Works crews chopped and cleared downed trees that had fallen across Wyckoff Avenue at Glendale Road and Cornell Street.

While the township has to clear trees that are blocking roadways for safety reasons, those that are not in the municipal right-of-ways are ultimately the homeowner's responsibility.

Both Rooney and Boonstra said the continued storm cleanup taxes the municipal budget. The township is currently working off of a temporary budget while it drafts the 2010 spending plan, and continued costs only strain officials' ability to make funding choices going forward.

"It has to come from somewhere," Rooney said, explaining that maintenance projects and departmental funding requests could be put off to help pay for the costs associated with this storm, as well as the generally brutal winter that has taxed the DPW, police and fire departments on several occasions.

Any residents continuing to experience power and heat problems can direct their inquiries to the police at 201-891-2121.