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Residents, contractors urge Belmar to overhaul snow-removal follow-up after severe storm
Summary
At a special public session, multiple residents and a plow contractor urged Belmar officials to hold a debrief and change snow-removal practices after lingering piles and ice blocked streets and sidewalks; one resident said she missed scheduled eye surgery because she could not leave her home.
A series of public commenters at tonight’s special meeting of the American Council in Belmar pressed borough officials for a formal debrief of snow-removal operations after a severe storm, saying follow-up clearing left streets and sidewalks dangerously icy and obstructed.
A resident who addressed the council asked whether staff had held any briefing or debriefing on snow removal and urged the borough to develop a clearer plan so “it doesn’t include what I see on the streets” of Belmar. The speaker described continued piles of snow on residential streets and said neighboring towns used different equipment, urging Belmar to consider dump trucks with plows rather than short-term subcontractors.
Francine Forte, a resident at 114 8th Avenue, said the town’s plows left a large pile across her sidewalk and into the street and that she called public works seeking assistance because she is 86 and had eye surgery scheduled the next morning. “I was 86 years old and I have to have eye surgery tomorrow morning,” Forte said. “My surgery was canceled because I could not get out of the house.” She told the council she later paid $200 to have her driveway dug out.
Council members acknowledged the problem but said the meeting was a special session and that the DPW director and police chief were not present. Mayor Bob Fusco told the audience the council would meet with the DPW director to follow up and that the borough had issued tickets for failure to remove snow and ice. “We will meet and we will discuss it with the DPW director,” the mayor said.
Council members and a plow contractor pushed back on claims that crews had not worked; one contractor said crews had been operating around the clock and called the event “the worst storm I’ve ever experienced as a plow contractor.” Another longtime resident said borough crews were out constantly and cautioned that rapidly changing temperatures—rain to freezing to snow—made full clearing difficult.
Council member Maroney said the borough was coordinating with Monmouth County to treat portions of Main Street, and that county crews originally intended to cover 8th to 18th but the borough was working to extend that to 5th to 18th.
No formal action or ordinance resulted from the comments; council members said they would follow up with the DPW director and with county officials about Main Street clearing. The meeting then moved into a closed executive session.
