Community Update from Town Manager, Christopher
Bromson:
Eversource crews made substantial
progress over the weekend to restore power to our residents. As of the morning
of Tuesday, August 11th, the vast majority of homes and business in Town have
had power restored, with 3 residents remaining without power. We continue to
work on behalf of the few without power and push for full restoration as soon
as possible.
We would like to take this
opportunity to thank our dedicated Department of Public Works staff. They
have worked tirelessly during Hurricane Isaias and the aftermath to clear our
Town from debris and make our roads passable and safe. DPW’s Highway
Division assisted Eversource with tree and brush removal to aid in opening
roads. By this past Saturday evening, our DPW, in conjunction with Eversource
and Asplundh, cleared all roads in Enfield and made them passable so our
residents could safely leave their houses. Building and Grounds Division
cleared all debris from municipal buildings, schools and parks. The staff at
the Water Pollution Control Facility ensured all pump stations and the Water
Pollution Control Plant were operable and did not have any illicit discharges
into the CT River. The Fleet Division made certain all equipment remained
operational during the overtime shifts. Custodial Services made all roof
inspections and helped clean up around all schools. Administration aided in
receiving and resolving resident issues during and after the storm. Last but
not least, the Refuse and Resource Management Division picked up 174 tons of
yard waste/storm debris this past Friday. We truly appreciate the hard
work performed by our crews and commend the dedication of our Public Work
staff.
This past week, the Transfer
Station was opened for additional hours to collect debris from the Storm. DPW
also provided a rear loader truck to allow residents to dispose of any spoiled
food from the Storm. The Transfer Station is back to regular hours this week,
which are Tuesday through Friday, 8 AM to 2:30 PM and Saturdays 8 AM to 3:30
PM. There will be no rear loader for spoiled food this week. In addition, yard
waste pickup is scheduled for Friday. Please use your brown tipper barrels for
debris.
Enfield’s Police Department
continues to remain unmatched in their dedication to our community. We want to
publicly thank them for their service to our Town and our residents during this
time. The Police Department responded to multiple reports of trees and wires
down, and addressed the ensuing public safety and traffic impact, both during
and after the storm. In conjunction with the town’s emergency management
department, hazardous conditions were prioritized and reported to the relevant
service provider for action. The Police Department responded to over one
hundred calls for service during Storm Isaias. The types of calls
included responding to many hazards, assisting the fire department, and alarm
calls, just to name a few. The dedication, professionalism and commitment of
our officers has been exemplary. The Police Department also activated the
Auxiliary division in response to the Storm. Auxiliaries immediately responded
to the call for help and were willing to come in and stay as long as they were
needed, despite being unpaid employees. We truly thank them for their
service.
Our
EMS Department has provided exceptional services to our residents during
Hurricane Isaias. EMS personnel prepared to handle all emergency situations
that could have arisen due to the prolonged outage, such as heat related
issues, falls, and respiratory related issues. EMS also coordinated with
our Social Services division to ensure that Enfield’s “high-risk” population
was addressed during this time.
Lastly, we would
like to thank our elected officials, especially our Mayor, Michael Ludwick, for
his tireless efforts on behalf of the citizens of Enfield during this very
devastating tropical storm. We appreciate all the efforts our State
Representatives, Representative Hall, Representative Arnone, and Senator
Kissel, made in having power restored to our citizens.
Most of all, we appreciate the
patience of all our residents. A storm of this magnitude, during an
unprecedented pandemic, caused much uncertainty and worry in our community.
Please know we have done all we can to remedy this very stressful situation and
our thoughts have been with you. Our staff and I are available to assist
you and will continue to provide services. Please continue to check our website
for updates. For alerts from the Town of Enfield, please go to https://enfield-ct.gov/List.aspx to
sign up for Notify Me and select Public Notices.