Focusing on Storm Cleanup, Borough Suspends Trash Collection

Borough workers, still struggling under the weight of fallen tree limbs and other debris from an , will direct all their energy toward ridding Paramus of the fallen brush this week, officials announced Tuesday.

Mayor Richard LaBarbiera said grass, trash and recycling collection will be suspended Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to free up workers to clear the streets of storm debris.

LaBarbiera said the hope is that the branches are gone by Thanksgiving. Workers have reached 75% of the town so far, and hope to sweep the last quarter of town and start a second circuit before the holiday.

Workers have already dedicated time to the task, LaBarbiera said. For the past few weeks, workers responsible for collecting trash, recycling and grass have gone out after finishing their routes to pick up storm debris as well.

Workers have also pitched in on the weekends, LaBarbiera said. He added that the municipal government underestimated just how much debris was on the ground.

Residents are also taking advantage of the borough relaxing its policy on brush, branch and tree limb pickup, the mayor said. The borough is allowing residents until Nov. 30 to place branches felled during the storm on the curb without bundling it first, but some people are taking the opportunity to move all their brush, storm-related or not, to the street.

LaBarbiera said it wasn't a problem, but that it had delayed pickup in some areas.

"We're expeditiously and efficiently working our way through," he said.

All the debris is being placed in the parking lot of the Paramus Municipal Pool, where piles of wood chips and brush have climbed to nearly 15 feet high. Joseph D'Arco, borough administrator, said the borough was bringing in a grinder to shred the material by the end of the week, but the plan for what to do with the final product was still being developed.

Once the cleanup is finished, LaBarbiera said a committee would be convened to examine the borough's response to the storm, including how it notified residents. The committee will also identify areas in town that have proved particularly vulnerable to power outages and determine whether the borough tree policy needs to be reviewed.

Some residents have blamed the abundance of borough trees for causing the widespread outages that occurred after the storm. Joseph Sexton, director of the Shade Tree and Parks Commission, said all trees, not just borough trees, shed limbs during the storm, regardless of their health or how well they were maintained.

Sexton said the storm, which dropped five inches snow before most trees had shed their leaves, was unprecedented.

"When you have a situation like that, trees fail," he said. "They have to be cleaned up."

Paramus was one of the two first communities in New Jersey to take part in the Tree City USA program, which calls for municipalities to adopt a community forestry program and a tree care ordinance. Borough trees are pruned on a regular schedule, Sexton said, and the Shade Tree and Parks Commission also responds to individual service requests.

Residents, who are barred from even pruning borough trees, can call the commission to deal with sick trees, broken branches or growths on trees, Sexton said. Workers responded to 750 such calls in 2011 before the storm hit.

For its part, PSE&G also maintains trees near its distribution power lines regularly. The utility trims or removes trees located near lines on a four-year cycle, said Deann Muzikar, a spokeswoman for PSE&G.

The Shade Tree and Parks Commission is going street by street to remove hanging and broken branches from borough trees, Sexton said, but he asked residents to be patient.

"It will take weeks, if not months, to totally clean up the damage," he said.