Long, Hard Storm Clean-up Continues in Cedar Grove

More than three weeks after a rare October snowstorm blanketed the region, the township is struggling to keep up with the volume of debris left in its wake.

Township Manager Thomas Tucci said at Monday night's public Township Council meeting that 80 percent of streets in the township have had at least one pass-through by the Cedar Grove DPW's fleet of chippers and leaf vacuum trucks, but that there was still a lot of work left to do.

Tucci estimated the storm has so far cost the township more than $85,000 in DPW and police overtime, as well as retaining three independent contractors to assist with clean-up. He said the total price tag for the storm could reach $135,000 or more when the clean-up is complete.

"In my 36 years working in municipal government it was probably the most devastating storm I've ever seen. It had all the characteristics of a hurricane without the home damage," he said.

However, as he has said previously, the job will continue until it's done.

Tucci says residents can expedite the process by sorting their tree debris, separating the branches from the leaves when they pile it at the curb. The clean-up effort will continue this week in the south end of town, and will pick up again the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.

"The DPW has been out there six days a week trying their very best. It's so heavy out there, sometimes it takes a whole day to clear one street. It's hard to determine how long the clean-up will take," he said.

The governing body hinted that a cut-off date would be set at which point tree debris from the storm would no longer be picked up by the township DPW, but a date had not yet been set.

"If residents have something to be put out, they should put it out now," Mayor John Zunic said at the meeting.

Tucci said his "hopes weren't high" to receive any federal, state or county reimbursement for the township's clean-up efforts, despite an emergency declaration in the area.

One stumbling block to finishing the job has been county roads that traverse the township. The council pointed to Fairview Avenue, which runs through both Verona and Cedar Grove, and remains obstructed in several areas by downed tree limbs, expressing frustration at the speed of the county's response to the clean-up.

"I'm disappointed in the lack of response. It's truly unacceptable in my eyes," Deputy Mayor Joseph Chiusolo said of the county's response so far.

Chiusolo said he was opposed to utilizing township resources to clear county roads, and said doing so would amount to a "double tax" on residents, who pay taxes to the municipality as well as the county for services including road clean-up.

Chiusolo said efforts to rectify the situation by reaching out to Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. have so far been fruitless, and urged residents of county roads to call his office to register their disapproval.

Councilman Peter Tanella suggested the Council direct Township Attorney Thomas Scrivo to research possible options the township could have to redress grievances with the county for their storm response, calling the un-cleared county roads "a health and safety issue."

"We have winter approaching and this is an issue that could rear its ugly head again with regards to salting and clearing roads. Let's do some research to see if we have any recourse as opposed to sitting here and doing nothing about it."