Tuesday in Holmdel: Power Outages Persist, Clean-Up Continues

Editor's Note: Although the DPW pumped out basements during the storm, it is no longer providing that service, said the mayor on Tuesday afternoon. An earlier version of this story stated that the DPW was available upon request. 

Township department heads held a briefing Tuesday morning. Here are some notes from Mayor Patrick Impreveduto: 

Power: Electric power is coming back slowly, with current estimates at 3129 customers are reporting to be without power in Holmdel as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. "JCPL says they are doing the best they can -- and that’s all we're getting from them," said Mayor Patrick Impreveduto who spoke with a representative at 9:30 a.m. "They say they have to take care of the central areas first before the residential end of it."

Sinkholes: In order to repair the township's three gaping sinkholes at Timberdale, Brentwood and South Beers streets, Township Committee members will need to agree to advertise for engineering bids, and get contractors lined up at a special meeting on Sept. 1 said Impreveduto. See the Patch story and photos here

Township Committee Special Meeting Sept. 1: A cancelled town government meeting has been put back on the calendar for Thursday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. The only thing on the agenda at the moment is to award contract for engineering services for emergency road repairs, said Township Clerk Maureen Doloughty. There is no executive session scheduled. The Committee typically will take questions and comments from the public at the meeting. 

Brush Pickup: The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the township for storm damage caused by falling tree limbs on streets and power lines, and will also pay for carting and personnel costs. But FEMA will not be responsible for costs related to trees that fall down on individual homeowner properties. "As of now, the homeowner is responsible for trees down on their property.  It will be discussed at the meeting Thursday [Sept. 1]." 

Dept. of Public Works: They are busy clearing broken limbs and performing maintenance on township vehicles. 

School Readiness: The high school maintenance staff is working diligently to clean up the facility, which was used as an evacuation center for several hundred Bayshore evacuees over the weekend. 

Health Officer: The township health officer has been making rounds of the food-serving establishments to make sure they are in compliance with sanitary code. 

Communications: The township has been struggling to communicate electronically. Though Town Hall now has power, the computer servers do not, so email and township websites are down. Also, personnel say they cannot update the Holmdel Township Facebook page. Even the mayor himself says he has no power or water (because like many on the southern slope of Holmdel, he has well water.) On Tuesday afternoon, Neighborhood Watch captains will be going door to door to hand deliver a letter from the mayor, reprinted here in its entirety. 

A letter from the Mayor and Township Committee:

HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP

Update in the Aftermath of Hurricane Irene

                                          August 30, 2011

Dear Residents,

I am sure you are aware that Holmdel, as well as the rest of the State, is experiencing difficulty in communicating electronically because of storm related issues.   I want to reassure each resident that we are in constant contact with JCP&L Officials.  They have assured us that once they have restored power to all essential areas, they will work as expeditiously as possible to get power restored to the rest of Holmdel.  To that extent, they still have not given us a timeframe, but outages could last several more days.  

The Police have been, and will continue to be, a presence during these trying times.  The Township Committee is urging each resident to sign up for the Code Red Emergency Notification System.  If you have no access to the Internet, you can contact the Police Department at 732-946-9690 ext. 1721 with your name, address, and the phone numbers you wish to have contacted, and you will be added to Code Red. 

 It is our understanding that at this time stores on the Route 35 corridor and on Route 520 in Lincroft are available for essentials. 

Thank you for your cooperation.  Wishing you the best.

Mayor Pat Impreveduto and the Holmdel Township Committee