Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town Officials met in Rocky Point Thursday to speak about improved communication between the towns and County and how country resources are now being utilized to expedite cleanup and get power back after Sandy.
The County has been devoting resources, Department of Public Works equipment and workers, parks employees and more to the towns. Officials were pleased with increased communication with each other and focused on improving communication with LIPA as well.
"It is now is a big consolidated group effort to do the cleanup and get the roadways clear so the electrical crews can come and get power back up," said Councilwoman Jane Bonner.
While Bonner was pleased with the county, she, along with acting Supervisor Kathy Walsh, believe more is needed from LIPA.
"Between all the different levels of government we’ve all been working very well, there seems to be a lack of coordination with LIPA," Bonner said. "The County Executive is going to be working towards that end to get us dedicated resources and better coordination of their efforts combined with ours."
Walsh agreed, and while she too was pleased with how the groups are working together, she hopes to see improvement soon.
"I hate to say it’s going well, it’s not going as fast as we would like it to go, but we’re working together and trying to get to as many homes as possible to get electricity," she said.
County Executive Steve Bellone and the rest of the officials spoke with Martin Amoscato, a Rocky Point resident who had power up until yesterday. Workers were cutting down a tree that had fallen onto wires across from his house, and he was assured that once the tree was taken care of LIPA would be able to restore power to that area.
"I think everybody is working very hard," said Legis. Sarah Anker. "I’ve been working with the community to try to corral special needs. I myself just got power last night. Things like this bring communities together and people shouldn’t be afraid to ask someone to help."
