Thursday, February 14, 2013
The town public works department and the schools' buildings and grounds crews did great work, O'Connor says.
Westborough Public Works Manager John Walden and his crews "did yeoman's work" to clean the roads, sidewalks and school parking lots from the Blizzard of '13, enabling the schools to reopen Monday, School Superintendent Marianne O'Connor told the school committee Wednesday night. O'Connor also praised school district Director of Buildings and Grounds Brian Schlegel, and his custodial staff, for doing "an amazing amount of work" in response to the storm. "Everybody was out there working together," said O'Connor, who noted that she drove to all the schools on Sunday. The storm closed the Westborough schools last Friday and dropped about two feet of snow on the town.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Clean the snow away from heating vents, Perron says.
Westborough had a “major problem” with carbon monoxide during the Blizzard of ’13, Fire Chief Nick Perron told selectmen Tuesday night. Perron said it’s “really important” for residents to clean the snow away from their homes’ heating vents, which snow can clog. The Westborough Fire Department handled five carbon monoxide reports during the storm, he said. “It kills very quickly,” Perron said of carbon monoxide. “They call it ’the silent killer.’” Anyone with questions about this topic should call the fire department, Perron said. Meanwhile, Perron, Police Chief Alan Gordon and Public Works Manager John Walden praised residents for clearing the snow away from hydrants during the storm. “It was amazing how many people did clear out the …
42.27015
-71.61492
Town of Westborough Fire Department
42 Milk St, Westborough, MA
/articles/carbon-monoxide-major-problem-during-blizzard
806364
/locations/8801911
Police will strictly enforce this Westborough bylaw.
Westborough residents caught shoveling snow onto a public street face a $100 fine and a civil citation, Police Chief Alan Gordon told selectmen Tuesday night. Police “will be strictly enforcing” a town bylaw prohibiting “pushing snow back into a public way,” Gordon said. “We have enforced it in the past. We really don’t want to whack somebody with a $100 fine. But, we’re going to have to do it at some point to make sure the message gets across. I think it will only take a couple of citations and people will realize that we’re very serious about this.” Gordon said that “normally, what we’ll do is we’ll go out if the DPW calls us, or a cruiser sees somebody doing it, we’ll warn the people and make them remove the snow. It doesn’t always …
42.26787
-71.61477
Westborough Police Department
45 W Main St, Westborough, MA
/articles/shoveling-snow-onto-street-risks-100-fine
805703
/locations/8800143
Public works manager can deficit spend to $100,000 for snow and ice expenses, and to $50,000 for snow and ice wages, selectmen said.
Westborough’s snow and ice budget is in the red on wages and expenses thanks to the Blizzard of ’13, Public Works Manager John Walden told selectmen Tuesday night. Selectmen then granted Walden’s request to deficit spend to $100,000 for snow and ice expenses, and to $50,000 for snow and ice wages. Salt and sand, and equipment repairs will consume $30,000 to $40,000 of that $100,000, Walden predicted. Last Friday and Saturday’s blizzard dropped about two feet of snow on Westborough, by some estimates. “As you are aware, we had a snowstorm last weekend,” Walden said. Walden also will discuss the matter with the advisory finance committee, Town Manager Jim Malloy said. Tuesday night, the National Weather Service in Taunton was forecasting …
42.285697
-71.627484
Town of Westborough Department of Public Works
131 Oak St, Westborough, MA
/articles/snow-and-ice-deficit-spending-ok-d
806082
/locations/8799798
Monday, February 11, 2013
Residents 'really stepped up,' Gordon says.
Westborough had very few traffic and parking issues during the Blizzard of '13, thanks to Gov. Patrick's travel ban and the town's parking ban, Police Chief Alan Gordon said today. The state of emergency Patrick declared effective at 4 p.m. Friday was "huge. That made our job a lot easier, not having to deal with accidents and people getting stuck," Gordon said. With Westborough banning on-street parking at 6 p.m. Friday, "the DPW was able to get around and plow the roads" without cars blocking a plow, he said. Gordon said he was unaware of vehicles being ticketed for violating the parking ban. "I give people a lot of credit. They really stepped up during the storm, which made an impact on what we do," he said. One accident on Saturday …
The Westborough Country Club was packed Sunday.
Westborough resident Augustus “Skip” Ashton didn’t need a shovel during the Blizzard of ’13. He was in warm Florida, on a business and family trip. But Sunday, Ashton found himself grabbing a shovel just as his Westborough neighbors did this weekend. Without the memories of living through the storm. “I flew in from Miami this morning, and it was fine. It got down to 78 (Saturday). On the news, it looked really snowy up here,” Ashton said. “It was perfect. I flew into Logan. It was open. The roads were all open.” “It’s fantastic. I love it. It’s a little crowded across the street, but I like the snow. It’s good to see,” he continued. Across the street, sledders and snow tubers packed the Westborough Country Club. At times, incoming vehicles…
42.26496
-71.61991
Westborough Country Club
100 W Main St, Westborough, MA
/articles/blizzard-brings-out-sledders
1785335
/locations/8783644
Car sales were rare because the snow kept customers away.
Westborough Buick GMC had a handful of motors running on Friday and Saturday. All of them were plows. Car dealers along Route 9 in Westborough and its neighbors spent the first part of Sunday clearing snow off cars, rather than selling the vehicles. Getting about 24 inches of snow from Friday into Saturday “kills you. Because (on) the weekend, you make most of your business,” Westborough Buick GMC General Sales Manager Paul Puccio said. “We got our first customer today in two-and-a-half days,” he said. The dealership began preparing for the storm on Friday, Puccio said. “We came Friday night, spent a couple of hours plowing the whole parking lot, came back Saturday morning, were here more of the day plowing, and then today is cleaning off …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
This video was posted on YouTube.
Watch the Blizzard of '13 unfold at the Windsor Ridge Apartments in Westborough. "Blurrydawn" posted this video on YouTube.
42.289552
-71.58578
Windsor Ridge at Westborough
1 Windsor Ridge Dr, Westborough, MA
/articles/watch-the-blizzard-unfold-at-windsor-ridge
805998
/locations/8781828
Christina's was open early Saturday.
The breakfast customers at Westborough's Christina's Cafe on Saturday had something in common. They were driving snow plows. NPR mentioned the eatery Saturday in a story about the storm. Waitress Kim Lupien is quoted in the story.
42.268462
-71.612473
Christina's Cafe
20 South St, Westborough, MA
/articles/westborough-cafe-served-plow-drivers-breakfast
805573
/locations/8781599
DPW continues working on streets.
Blizzard of '13 clean-up efforts will change many Westborough residents' plans today. New Hope Chapel, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and Congregation B'nai Shalom announced on their Facebook pages Saturday night plans to cancel all or some of their Sunday programs due to the storm and the road conditions. The details can be found in Westborough Patch's cancellation story. Public works crews will continue working on the streets today, police said on their Facebook page on Saturday. The town's parking ban remained in effect as of Saturday night.
42.28081
-71.60267
Congregation B'nai Shalom
117 E Main St, Westborough, MA
/articles/blizzard-clean-up-cancels-some-sunday-programs
805580
/locations/8781470
42.26628
-71.61943
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
3 John St, Westborough, MA
/articles/blizzard-clean-up-cancels-some-sunday-programs
805696
/locations/8781471
42.269957
-71.614461
New Hope Chapel
30 Milk St, Westborough, MA
/articles/blizzard-clean-up-cancels-some-sunday-programs
805891
/locations/8781472
Mike Kelly
1:27 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Thanks to DPW and the town for great work. Attached are photos from snow clean up today. It's impressive to see how organized Westborough is when I hear from other states/towns that they have yet to see a snowplow on their street. more ›