Storm Clean Up

Has Been Horrible This Year

To the Editor:

On Tuesday, February 16, the weather service made a horrible call and the three inches of snow that was called for, that was supposed to end by noon, turned in to eight inches that stopped at 9 pm in my part of town.

Subsequently, the powers that be made a poor call and did not cancel school, only having a 90-minute delay in the morning, then did not call for early dismissal despite the rapidly accumulating heavy snowfall. For this we got a letter of apology emailed to us from the superintendent.

I am irate at the fact Papoose Hill Road — at least on the Parmalee Hill side which I live on — was not plowed till 10:30 pm, some 21+ hours after the snow started falling. This is unacceptable. My 300-foot driveway was cleared as I snow blew four times, the last time at 8 pm, when I was supposed to pick my son up, only to see that there was still eight inches of snow on my unplowed street. My son was dropped off at the corner of Parmalee and Currituck and had to walk at 9 pm because Parmalee was not yet cleared as well. ( I took photos all day to prove this.)

If there had been a medical emergency or fire at my house someone would have died or the house would have burned to the ground.

How can this happen? I live less than a mile and a half from Edmond Town Hall, off of Currituck Road, one of the most well-traveled cut-through streets in town. It took 21 hours for a plow to hit my road. I cannot imagine how long it took for the outlying small dirt roads to get cleared.

It is one thing to delay clearing on weekends and when there is no school, but buses with children had to navigate these treacherous roads in heavy snow at 2 pm. In fact, a friend of mine who lives on Old Hawleyville told me her daughter’s bus driver told some of the kids it was dangerous to drive all the way to their stops and they would have to walk!

The conditions of the streets in Newtown this winter have been horrible overall. I have lived here since 1987 and have never had the difficulty negotiating even the smallest of hills in my front wheel drive vehicle. This year alone I have gotten stuck on four separate occasions, especially Barnabas and Tunnel Roads, which I take from Exit 9 to my home.

Someone needs to be held accountable. I spoke to the first selectman’s office to formally complain about this this morning. For the amount of taxes residents of this town pay, having safe passable roads should not be too much to ask, especially when it comes to transporting our children to and from school. We should not fear for their safety.

Cindy Gesualdi

3 Papoose Hill Road, Newtown                              February 17, 2010