Everett digs out after record snowstorm as mayor tours cleanup

By Neil Zolot

Like the entire Boston area and New England, Everett was inundated with a record snowstorm which hit Sunday and Monday. City Hall and the Everett public schools were closed on Monday, and while City Hall reopened Tuesday, the schools remained closed. On the bright side, the NE Patriots won their game on Sunday and are heading to the Super Bowl.

Mayor Robert Van Campen spent part of his days Sunday and Monday as a passenger in DPW vehicles and police cars. “I wanted to get out here to check the conditions of the roads and understand how their operations work,” he said. “The DPW and First Responders did a tremendous job under difficult conditions. The departments know what they’re doing and it’s interesting to watch.”

He even posted a selfie video on Facebook offering up his assessment and updates on the citywide cleanup.

Responses included plowing, with main streets completely clear, but side streets are partially plowed due to parked vehicles.

In addition, 275 vehicles were towed off the streets for violating the parking ban. Emergency parking is allowed in municipal lots, including the one behind City Hall, and on the even numbered side of side streets. “We have to tow vehicles to keep streets open,” Van Campen explained.

After a storm the problem of where to put the snow arises. It is illegal to dump snow in waterways or the ocean because rock salt and oil and gas on the streets are pollutants, so some of the snow may be dumped at Rivergreen Park.

Another problem is people shoveling snow from their driveways and sidewalks back onto the streets, which Van Campen reminded residents that it also illegal.

Yet another problem is how piles of snow, particularly at street corners, affect pedestrian safety, traffic, access for fire trucks and ambulances and the business community. “We’ll want to pull snow out of downtown to alleviate problems for the business community,” Van Campen said.

A major storm in his first month in office has been a baptism of fire for Van Campen and there may be another one this weekend. “It’s been challenging, but we want to make sure we’re paying as much attention to the storm as we can,” he said.

Fire Dept. Chief Joseph Hickey said a problem he’s facing is having to find and dig around fire hydrants. “We do some ourselves but are asking people to shovel hydrants near their homes or businesses,” he said. “It would help.”

He’s also asking people who are shoveling around hydrants to do so on the street side of the hydrants so fire trucks can access them.

“Residents need to do their part,” City Councillor at-Large and Council president Stephanie Smith agreed.

Some hydrants are outfitted with yellow and/or reflective rods for visibility, but Hickey said people sometimes break them off for no reason other than to cause a problem.

Luckily medical calls and problems with space heaters are not as prevalent as they once were. “Space heaters are now pretty safe, unlike the old ones with exposed heat rods,” he said.

Smith said she spent Sunday and Monday fielding calls from residents, shoveling snow, helping neighbors shovel and taking her kids sledding. “It was a really tough storm,” she said. “A lot of snow fell in a short time.”

The Monday City Council meeting was canceled and will be rescheduled, possibly Monday, February 9. Items from the January 26 agenda will be added to the agenda of February 9, which might result in a long meeting.

City Clerk Sergio Cornelio thinks the last time a City Council meeting was canceled due to the weather was in the very snowy winter of 2015 but closing City Hall or having business start late or end early has been more frequent, but not common.

He added, despite City Hall having been closed Monday, Tuesday was not busier than any other Tuesday, although there were weather related calls. He thinks many residents stayed home because school had been cancelled.

A decision was made not to hold the meeting as a virtual meeting because there weren’t any critical items on the agenda. The main items were a request to borrow $1,234,108 for the Fuller Street Park renovation project, a request to borrow $1,326,928 for the Chelsea Street Park renovation project, accepting a $100,000 grant from the Mass. Dept. of Developmental Services for the Office of Planning and Development for the development of a Floating Boardwalk and an item to amend the City Council Rules to simplify and clarify the determination of seniority for City Council members.