Pleasantville Update: Friday Morning

POWER OUTAGES

About 25% of Village homes remain without power. Con Edison issued a statement yesterday indicating that "it expects to restore the vast majority of customers" by the weekend of November 10-11. They say that "the remaining customer restorations could take an additional week or more." (This is the link to the Con Ed statement: http://www.coned.com/newsroom/news/pr20121101_3.asp.) That is obviously unhappy news for those of us who are affected, and we are pushing daily to keep P'ville's needs high on Con Ed's radar screen. Based on this morning's county-wide conference call, all communities are in the same boat...with many reporting outages that affect 80-90% of their homes. Nine nursing homes remain without power, along with dozens of schools and a number of municipal water installations. This will clearly take a while. Amid this, please assume (and tell your kids) that any wire you see is potentially dangerous. We had some new live wires brought down yesterday as limbs fell.

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DRY ICE DISTRIBUTION

Con Ed is distributing dry ice in two locations today from noon to 6 pm (or until supplies run out). Locations are the IBM Complex/Town Park in Armonk (200 Business Park Drive) and Yonkers Raceway (810 Yonkers Avenue). Follow the coned.com for daily reports on this program.

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GAS SHORTAGES

As you know, gasoline has been in short supply...and long lines are creating problems near every station this is operating. We have police on overtime assignment trying to manage this to the extent possible. There are no easy solutions, and we expect P'ville will continue to see increased gas traffic from towns where stations have no power.  We're told this AM that the regional distribution of gas was restored yesterday, and shortages are expected to be resolved "within a few days." Hopefully, that's realistic...especially for the many residents who are depending on portable gas generators.

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LIBRARY HOURS

The library has extended its hours for the weekend...providing a place to warm up, use the wireless internet and connect with neighbors. Hours are 10 am - 8 pm Friday and Saturday, and 1 - 8 pm on Sunday. (As of this writing, the wired internet to their public PCs is down...so bring your own laptop or smartphone.) Thanks go to director John Fearon for making these arrangements. On evenings and weekends, the School District is happy to have library patrons park in the Middle School lot (not on the MS exit driveway, please). Please avail yourselves of that to ease the congestion on Romer.

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VILLAGE SANITATION We will operate a regular sanitation schedule starting on Monday, with all normal pick-ups. Residents can put yard debris out for pick-up, with branches cut down to 4-foot lengths. If you have significant tree limbs or debris from removals, those need to be picked up privately. Leaf pick-up will resume next week as well. We have a garbage truck set up at the DPW Garage (end of Village Lane, behind MLA) to receive spoiled food...aiming to assist residents who want to empty refrigerators before their next regular garbage pick--up. That's available weekdays from 7 am to 3:30 pm and on Saturday from 9-3.

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BUILDING DEPARTMENT NOTES

Mike Testa, the Village Building Inspector, reminds all that significant repairs require a building permit. We know that contractors, plumbers and electricians will be in short supply, but home repairs need to be done by a licensed contractor. Work without a permit, or by unlicensed or uninsured contractors, presents risks to you and might affect your ability to get insurance reimbursement. Call 769-1926 for assistance. Note that storm repairs are NOT tax assessable...so please get the needed permits. Two important safety notes: 1) Do NOT try to wire portable generators into your heating system or home service without a licensed electrician. If not done correctly, you can cause major hazards, and 2) Do not fill the gas tank on generators while they are running. Spills can cause a fire or flash-back to the gas can..

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PUBLIC TRANSIT

Metro-North has restored most service on the Harlem line, the Bee-Line bus systems is running most services, and the County airport is open. All are subject to delays...but things are much better than they were.

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WEATHER REPORTS

We're expecting the next few days to have daytime highs in the 40s and night lows in the 30s. Those are uncomfortable numbers for those without heat, but we don't appear to be at risk of having pipes freeze. There is risk of rain and wind for the middle of next week, which won't make life easier for the crews we need to restore power.  If you are aware of any neighbors who may be at risk in the coming days, please let me know by return email or by calling Village Administrator Patti Dwyer at 769-1940. We'll help connect them to assistance and services. Thanks for your good spirit as we navigate the challenges still ahead, and  thanks again to our Village staff and volunteer emergency services. Lots of very, very good people are up at all hours working on P'ville's behalf.