ON THE GREEN: OUTAGES & DELAYED OPENINGS
A storm that dropped several inches of wet, heavy snow on the Greater Red Bank Green Wednesday left dozens of customers without electrical service early Thursday morning, as shown in JCP&L’s outage map above.
LINCROFT: OUTAGE CLOSES BROOKDALE
A power outage prompted officials to close Brookdale Community College Wednesday, the school announced on social media.
RED BANK: WEST SIDE GOES DARK, BRIEFLY
A portion of Red Bank’s West Side, including a stretch of Shrewsbury Avenue, above, was briefly without electricity Tuesday night as a result of a burned wire at Bridge Avenue and Chestnut Street, right. First Energy/JCP&L reported about 427 customers affected in the 90-minute outage before power was restored at 10 p.m.
During the outage, volunteer firefighters responded to a report of a gas leak on a darkened block of Shrewsbury Avenue near Monmouth Street. Fire Chief Chris Soden said no evidence of a leak was detected; other neighbors reported smelling a skunk or marijuana. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
LITTLE SILVER: HIGH WINDS PROMPT OUTAGES
Crews from JCP&L and Little Silver cleared a fallen tree and electrical line on Branch Avenue, where a service line was torn away from the house at left during a wind storm Sunday morning. The utility company’s outage map showed up to 100 customers in both Little Silver and the River Plaza section of Middletown without power, with lesser numbers in Shrewsbury and Fair Haven.
The National Weather Service had a high-wind warning in effect until noon, with possible gusts of of 50 to 60 miles per hour. And . (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
MIDDLETOWN: PHONES OUT FOR EIGHT DAYS
Some 25 telephone landlines in the Shady Oaks over-55 condo community in Middletown remained out of service Friday, eight days after a weather-related outage, Verizon tells redbankgreen. “Verizon’s repair crews are working to restore the service and then implement a long-term solution to ensure uninterrupted service for these customers,” a company spokesman said.
A resident tells redbankgreen that he and others finally heard from the company – via their cellphones – after our inquiries. “Now, Verizon reps are knocking on doors” of the affected residents, he said. Hey, call – or email – anytime. (Click to enlarge)
HARD-HIT SEA BRIGHT FACES BRIDGE OUTAGE
News of the planned closure of the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge had restaurateur Chris Wood lobbying elected officials for a modification Friday. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Business owners in Hurricane Sandy-walloped Sea Bright were reeling Friday afternoon on word that Monmouth County plans to shut down the Rumson-Sea Bright (Route 520) bridge for up to a month starting as early as January 28.
“It’s cutting off our lifeline as we’re recovering from a massive heart attack,” said Woody’s Ocean Grille owner Chris Wood, who just took delivery of $50,000 worth of liquor and food in preparation for a planned reopening in the desolate downtown next Wednesday.
“We’re just trying to get ourselves back open,” said Frank Bain, owner of the recently reopened Bain’s Hardware, “and a very large portion of our customer base comes over that bridge.”
RUMSON CHARGES TEENS IN SANDY BURGLARY
Five local teens have been charged for a brazen burglary of a Rumson home during the Hurricane Sandy-induced power outage, borough police reported Thursday.
The arrests of two juveniles and three adults, all from Rumson and Fair Haven, is the latest development in a case that had vexed local officials because it sparked an unfounded rumor of post-storm looting, police Chief Scott Paterson tells redbankgreen.
“There was just this one incident, but it made it problematic for us,” he said.
SHREWSBURY SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON JCP&L
By: REBECCA DESFOSSE
In case it wasn’t already getting the message, JCP&L will now hear it from the Borough of Shrewsbury: get your act together.
At Monday night’s town council meeting, a resolution that resulted from a recent Snow Summit of Monmouth County town officials won approval. It includes 10 recommendations aimed at getting the power utility to improve communications in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
One council member voted against the measure.
RED BANK: SEX, POWER AND GENERATORS
The Red Bank council wants JCP&L to send company representatives to any town with more than five percent of its customers experiencing outages. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
Electrical utility JCP&L and sexually oriented businesses were foremost on the agenda at Red Banks bimonthly council meeting Tuesday night.
Mayor Pasquale Menna and council members began the meeting by putting forth a resolution that will urge the state Board of Public Utilities to look into JCP&Ls handling of Hurricane Sandy-induced power outages. The resolution also seeks to persuade legislators in Trenton to pass measures that will force the power giant to provide each municipality with direct, in-person company representatives in emergency situations.
During the storm, we effectively became employees of JCP&L. Mayor Menna said. We were the only real connection between the people and the company, and that needs to change.”
FAIR HAVEN RATES STORM COMMUNICATIONS
A hard hat signed by Alabama Power line workers was donated to Fair Haven as thanks for the town’s hospitality at Tuesday night’s council meeting. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
In a meeting predictably dominated by issues related to Hurricane Sandy, Fair Haven’s borough council and a concerned public agreed on Monday night: though the local government did well, better communication is needed.
Council members and residents said the towns officials did a good job of damage control and post-storm recovery efforts, but a lack of effective communications from the borough was the one lingering negative at the governing body’s bimonthly meeting.
I think the main thing is we need to do a better job communicating, said borough AdministratorTheresa Casagrande.
RED BANK POWER RESTORATION CONTINUES
A map issued by the Red Bank Office of Emergency Management late Tuesday afternoon shows, in yellow, areas of town that have been restored to full electrical service.
At right, Verizon workers replace one of two fallen utility pole on Washington Street that have inhibited the return of electrical service to Red Bank’s East Side, officials said. At 4 p.m., a Verizon worker said the second pole would be up and ready for JCP&L to do its thing within the hour. (Photo at right by Rebecca Desfosse. Click to enlarge)
PATIENCE & GROANS AS OUTAGES PERSIST
A downed tree and electrical lines had First Street in Rumson blocked off 48 hours after the storm. Below, a sign on the locked doors of Trader Joe’s in Shrewsbury. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Electrical power was restored at Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre’s home late Monday night, about 12 hours after he bought a mobile generator.
But he’s still still in the dark about when the lights will be on in the parts of his town that still don’t have power, he said.
Progress that had been made over the last two years in repairing strained relations between the town and First Energy subsidiary Jersey Central Power & Light “seems to have been completely undone,” as the utility company has failed to keep officials informed about efforts to restore power in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, Halfacre said.
“I have found it incredibly frustrating dealing with JCP&L,” Halfacre tells redbankgreen. “There’s been a complete lack of substantive information.”