Officials Reflect on What Went Right, Wrong During Snowtober

Selectmen last night heard from residents and discussed the decisions made in the aftermath of last month's .

Resident George Hart called the power outage disaster "completely preventable" due to National Grid's "deliberate profit-oriented gross negligence." Particularly, National Grid had neglected to remove tree branches that posed potential dangers in the event of a storm, he said.

"The electric utilities have hollowed out what used to be an adequate level of line crews to handle this type of storm," Hart wrote in a letter to selectmen. "They now go on the happy but misguided assumption that no stomr will be this widespread in its impact."

Susan Graves told selectmen she was proud of her town after Snowtober, particularly of its support after a tree fell on her house.

"Out of the blue, I got a phone call from the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, George Dixon, saying he heard about what happened to my house and wanted to know if he could do anything to help," said Graves.

Graves said Dixon helped her secure a company to get the tree off her house.

"I want to say it meant the world to me to get that phone call. I spent the rest of the day smiling ... You have a tree fall on your house and all I could say was, I love my town," said Graves. "I had so many offers of help, food, shelter and showers. Thank you to my friends and neighbors. I love my town."

Town Manager Paul Cohen thanked members of the town's emergency management team, which made an early decision to put more staff and on duty during the storm.

"That was a wise investment as they received a number of calls reporting downed trees and wires," he said. "When the storm moved out early Sunday, 85 percent of the community was without power. That's when the response team kicked in and we learned this would be a multi-day event." 

First priority, Cohen said, was to make sure fire trucks and ambulances could get across the community as a number of roads were not passable due to downed trees and limbs.

Cohen said a representative from National Grid came to town on Tuesday to enhance communications between the company and the town, which was one of the hardest hit in the state.

Cohen said two main feeds of electricity coming into town from Westford had been so damaged by the storm were severely damaged.

"They brought in parts (to fix them) by pallets, which took such a long time," he said. "The goal was to restore power to the most people as soon as possible. People would ask, why are we last? Often it’s because you are at the end of the line."

Cohen said the bigger issue regarding the storm is the question of maintaining the trees.

The Department of Public Works staff will continue to work their way through town clearing debris on the public ways, Cohen said.

"If we don't do that, it really would impete snow removal in the winter," he said.

The town will hold a brush drop off at on Nov. 12 and Nov. 19 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Selectman Matt Hanson said he has been in touch with the town's four state representatives, many of which say they will support legislation to fine electric companies for excessive days the public is without power and encourage more competition for the electric companies.

Cohen suggestion the Board of Selectmen write a letter providing testimony - and testify in person, if possible - during Attorney General Marthy Coakley's investigation into the incident.