Mayor Bruno Praises Township Employees, Condemns JCP&L

With the bulk of the cleanup in the past for the township from the late October snowstorm that knocked power out for the majority of northern and central New Jersey, the Berkeley Heights Township Council spoke at length at its Monday night meeting about the storm’s recovery efforts.

Township Mayor Joseph G. Bruno had words of praise for the township’s police, fire, and waste management and emergency crews who worked tirelessly to clean up storm debris and keep Berkeley Heights safe following the storm.

“I do want to take the time to thank our township employees, especially our police department,” said Bruno. “I had the opportunity during the storm to be here for a lot of hours with (Police Chief Michael Mathis). Our dispatchers did a great job; we called the entire police force in to make sure our town was safe. There were no reports of vandalism, and it was dark. When our town goes dark, it’s a dark place.”

Bruno also credited the township’s Department of Waste Management, who continued to clear and eliminate debris immediately following the storm, despite dangerous conditions.

“All you heard that night as we were driving around was the cracking of limbs and falling (branches). The DPW guys got in their trucks and started chipping and moving things out of the way immediately,” said Bruno. “My compliments go to the entire township. The town looked like hell, but it wasn’t because of anything that our employees didn’t do.”

Mayor Bruno was far less complimentary, however, of Jersey Central Power and Light, who he says, after failing to take precaution to clear potentially hazardous tree limbs before the storm, took far too long to restore power to the township and failed to assist in the town’s clean-up efforts.

“I can’t tell you how annoyed I am at JCP&L, as most of you folks are too," added the mayor. "The storm was not their fault, but the result of the storm is definitely their fault. They were supposed to clean the lines around the trees. They cut back manpower, didn’t do their due diligence when it came to pruning the trees,” said Bruno. “We have a devastating loss in our township. You can see the trees that are mangled because of it. You can see the streets that have limbs on them.”

Bruno announced, after JCP&L’s refusal to assist with debris cleanup following the storm, that he is petitioning the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to replace the utility company in Berkeley Heights and the surrounding area.

“They flatly refused. In fact, we asked their Division of Forestry and went all the way up to the Vice President of First Energy in Ohio, and again he said that they refused. To them, I say ‘Pack your bags and get the heck out of my town,’" said Bruno. “If you can’t manage your business, then you shouldn’t be able to do business in the state. I know that because I manage a business, and I wouldn’t be in business if I couldn’t manage my customers.”

In the meantime, Mayor Bruno again urged all residents to sign up for the Union County First Alert system at http://www.ucfirstalert.org to receive constant updates in the event of a massive storm or other state of emergency.