New Highway Superintendent Happy With Storm Response
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By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com
Town of Huntington Highway Superintendent Kevin Orelli commended his crews Tuesday for a job well-done through last week’s snowstorm.
“I couldn’t expect better from the crew; they out did my expectations,” Orelli said. “There were a few spots here and there that weren’t perfect, but considering the size of the storm and the conditions that we had to work in, the wind and the amount of snowfall I can’t imagine that we could have done a better job.”
Winter Storm Grayson, a rare “bomb cyclone,” brought winds up to 61 miles per hour and heavy snow totaling more than a foot in areas across town last Thursday.
In the wake of the storm on Friday, many returning to their daily routines were met with piles of snow in Huntington village. Orelli said the village cleanup operation was delayed two days to Sunday evening due to large amount of traffic and cars parked on the streets.
Town officials announced Sunday morning the cleanup operation for that evening, and declared a no parking, snow removal zone for all commercial streets in the village. That night, and into Monday morning, front loaders and other heavy equipment were used to remove snow.
“I wanted to do it Friday night, but we couldn’t because of all the traffic,” he said. “There’s just no way we could go there at 10 p.m. on a Friday and get anything done.”
Looking ahead to preparation ahead of future snowstorms, Orelli said, he may look to call in the town’s outside snow removal contractors “an hour or two earlier than we did.”
He also said his time spent driving the roads of Huntington with Supervisor Chad Lupinacci the day of the storm was helpful in several ways, including to help make recommendations to school districts for closures.
He added, “The communication was great; we had all the town departments helping out, and it was a great effort on everybody’s part.”
