Williston Park Cleans Up After Storm
As I write, I can hear the wind howling outside on a frigid December evening. Yesterday Williston Park and the rest of the metropolitan area were hit with a storm of major proportions. Village employees, under the direction of Keith Bunnell, worked, in shifts, from Sunday at approximately 4 p.m. until approximately 2:30 p.m. Monday. They were out in force, plowing every street in our village a number of times. They are to be commended for their efforts. Both Keith and Kerry Collins worked more than 24 hours straight to oversee this operation. Thanks to both.
As I observed this action firsthand it was an impressive operation from beginning to end. While the snow flew and the wind blew, your staff was undeterred from working to complete the task at hand. Equipment problems arose at different times with our workers “stepping up” to get these problems resolved. While they worked to clean, a number of factors prevented them from doing a complete job. Heavy winds returned snow to the streets as did residents’ snowplows. Parked cars also hampered their efforts. Common sense dictates that when it snows streets must be plowed. To do so effectively cars must be removed from the streets. Putting snow back in the streets by directing snowblowers in that direction also complicates the issue. In the future, I ask all residents to be considerate of their neighbors and the staff and follow a few simple rules. Make arrangements with friends and/or neighbors to park extra vehicles off the streets. When using a snowblower aim the discharge chute onto your property, not onto the streets. If a fire hydrant is close by your house, please take the time to shovel around it in case it is needed on a fire call. It is the responsibility of the village to ensure streets are passable and as safe as possible. This necessitates plowing and replowing. When this happens it is inevitable that driveways will be blocked more than once by the plows. Please be patient and understanding as the workers do their jobs as directed. If you have concerns, call village hall and please refrain from confronting the drivers.
If a call is made to village hall, please be courteous to village staff. They are not to be verbally abused or cursed at during the course of a phone call, which has happened over the past few days. They have been instructed to pass along complaints to the appropriate person. A snow storm is just that, a snow storm. We all must work together to get through these natural occurrences.
This Friday, Village Hall will be closed for the observation of New Year’s Day. Although New Year’s Day is Saturday, Village workers will be off on Friday. There will be no garbage pickup on Friday. PLEASE do not put your trash out as it will sit on the curb for the whole weekend. This is directed to both residents and commercial establishments.
Due to the holidays there is not much to report this week. My family and I wish all a Happy and Healthy New Year.
