Quoted Text

City burns through $1M in storm-related expenditures
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The cash-strapped city ran through nearly $1 million in emergency costs over the last four days, the mayor said Monday, and the spending isn’t over yet.
    Although the last lights should come on in Schenectady today, the city must still pay to dispose of tons of tree limbs — and whole trees — knocked down in the ice storm that began Thursday night.
    The damage was so severe that all of the city’s parks have been closed until workers have the time to scour the forests for broken branches dangling high in the trees. A wind gust could send those branches crashing down.
    “Our golf course was very hard hit,” Commissioner of General Services Carl Olsen said. “All our parks were hard hit. It had to be our secondary priority.”
    For now, the city is focusing on removing tree debris. If residents can drag their debris to the city right-ofway, workers will chop it for them and remove it, Olsen said.
    Residents must not block the sidewalk or the roads. Olsen also advised residents to inspect their remaining trees in search of dangling limbs, which must be removed before wind knocks them down.
    The budget-busting storm pushed the city Fire Department into the red, forcing Chief Robert Farstad to spend $45,000 in overtime — much more than he had left for the final three weeks of the year.
    At times, the city doubled the department’s staffing as firefighters broke their record for the number of calls answered in 24 hours. They handled 307 non-medical calls — wires down, trees on wires and the like — in the first day of the storm and continued at that pace for the following two days. During that time, Mohawk Ambulance responded to all of the city’s medical calls, Farstad said.
    The department’s most frustrating call was for a fire at Tony’s Market at Emmett and Steuben streets, which was too dangerous to fight because it started when a live wire fell on the roof. It took National Grid at least 30 minutes to cut power to that wire, and Councilman Joseph Allen has now called for an investigation into why it took the company so long to handle that and other power needs.
    The city demolished the unsafe remains of the market building at a cost of $40,000 after ...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00602

Mr Allen has never worked for a utility, it can take 30 minutes to drive to a location, someone may have to be called in to take care of the problem, or additional help may be needed b4 the situation can be corrected. This was a wide spread storm and there were many problems happening at the same time so sometimes you just have to wait until help is available. I think National Grid did an amazing job considering all the hazards they had to contend with during the ice storm. I worked all during the ice storm of 1965 that hit here and the conditions you have to work in are very dangerous to say the least.

Isn't it funny how our local politicians will act when they can 'blame' somone or something else. Never taking responsiblity for their inability to govern the people.

The truth is...there was an ice storm. There was a fire. Taking everything into consideration, I think this area faired pretty well. One fire, which I am truly sorry for, and the local politicians are going to 'look into it'. Give me a break! They should belooking into how to cut spending and lower taxes! It's all a dog and pony show at best!!! And these politicians are horrible!