NORWOOD, N.J.—Despite promises to reopen Broad Street for businesses suffering major retail losses due to two months of road closures, Rockland Electric officials notified area businesses Dec. 31, 2019, that the road is unlikely to reopen before Jan. 10 due to repaving complications.
“They were in error…It was the best information they had at the time,” said Michael Donovan, Rockland Electric spokesman on Jan. 2, about the estimated Dec. 23, 2019 re-opening initially promised by utility officials.
Donovan said the work was delayed from an August start date until November due to a shift in the water table before work commenced.
Utility work on Broad Street was also delayed by hitting an unmarked Suez water pipe on Dec. 14, 2019, said Donovan.
Donovan said borough officials were informed Oct. 15, 2019 of the utility’s Broad Street plans and agreed to post information about the work on borough social media sites.
He said the utility’s reliance on social media to inform residents and business owners was a “bad call” and Rockland Electric should probably have relied more on “personal contact” with local businesses.
Donovan said a proposed timeline for future utility work should be available in a week or so, after communication with newly sworn-in officials.
All utility work on what Donovan termed “a major construction project” is to be done by May 2020, prior to peak summer demand for electricity, he said.
On Dec. 18, 2019, about a dozen business owners—one stating business was off 60% during the busiest time of the year—met with Rockland Electric officials and were promised by utility officials that the road would reopen on Dec. 23, 2019.
Prior to the impromptu meeting, business owners led by John and Linda Russo, owners of Wine and Whiskey Barrel, 7 Broad Street and West Norwood Realty, Inc., wrote a letter to Rockland Electric criticizing the company’s lack of communication and negative business impacts from prior road closures over six weeks due to utility upgrades.
Business owners criticized the utility for its road closure during the year’s busiest retail period during the Dec. 18, 2019, meeting, many imploring utility officials to suspend work and re-open the road. Rockland Electric representatives said that could not be done but promised to re-open the road on Dec. 23, 2019.
‘Take longer than…planned’
“Post-construction road restoration is expected to take longer than originally planned. As the construction progressed, subsurface conditions changed. That will require additional work to make final restoration repairs to the roadway. Barring unforeseen developments, our target for complete road restoration and the re-opening of Broad St. to two-way traffic is Jan. 10,” said utility officials in a Dec. 31, 2019, email.
“We were told it was going to end and now it’s extended. And the pain’s not over yet, they’re planning on doing more work on and near Broad Street,” said Callahan’s owner Daniel DeMiglio, reached Dec. 31, 2019.
‘Never told’ about delays
“We were never told this was going on and worse than that we have to go digging for information to find out what’s happening on our street,” said DeMiglio. He said he and other business owners have received no calls or information—or offers of assistance—from borough officials about the utility work’s impacts on their businesses.
He said continuing utility work related to Rockland Electric’s upgrades will be occurring in the area and possible work on a nearby pedestrian bridge may impact local businesses.
‘Very disheartening’
“It’s become way too much for us to handle and overwhelming. Customers cannot get to our store, the road is closed, detours prevent customers from getting to us. For such a small town to do so little for us, it’s very disheartening,” DeMiglio said.
He said he had closed Callahan’s on Dec. 30, 2019, and would re-open on Jan. 13, provided road work is complete.
He said with sales off drastically and customers unable to get to the restaurant, it makes no sense to stay open with business so slow. “This [closing] will help stop the bleeding,” he added.
He said owners in strip malls that partially line both sides of Broad Street were frustrated that the utility work has gone on so long during the year’s busiest retail period.
Asked if he might consider a future lawsuit to recoup business losses—which he said were off 60 percent—he said that was “not in the cards right now” and he was more interested in getting back to business as soon as possible.
Other business owners said not only were customers having trouble accessing the road and businesses there, but delivery drivers could not make needed deliveries due to the road closure and detours.
‘What’s going on here’
“How come there’s not any communication from the town about what’s going on here now and what will be going on in the future?” asked DeMiglio.
“We as storekeepers hold you responsible for devastating our livelihood. It is completely unacceptable to do that to any business,” wrote John and Linda Russo in a Dec. 13 letter to utility president Robert Sanchez.
Fourteen Broad Street business owners signed the letter.
Donovan said the utility “does not accept lost business claims” for performing necessary electrical infrastructure improvements. He said the delays were not anticipated but the project was necessary and borough officials were notified in advance of work.
‘We apologize’
“Not only do we understand, but we apologize for any inconvenience that they suffered,” Donovan said.
He said the utility responded to the Russos’ Dec. 13 letter but declined to release its response.
Utility officials said the company has undertaken a two-year, $28 million electric system improvement project that includes installing 3.2 miles of underground electric transmission line from Old Tappan through Norwood to Closter.
Officials said the new line will be installed within public roadways connecting the utility’s Harings Corner substation in Old Tappan and its substation in Closter.
“The route will run from Harings Corner substation along Orangeburgh Road to Broadway to Broad Street to Blanch Avenue to West Street and end on Michaels Lane,” said officials.
Officials said the utility upgrades will enhance electric service reliability, accommodate load growth, and help protect the electric grid from storms for about 14,000 customers in 10 communities, including Old Tappan, Norwood, Northvale, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Harrington Park, Alpine, Haworth and Rockleigh.