The Alternative Press

Westfield has suffered catastrophic damage unprecedented in our towns history. We have banned together as neighbors working with each other in mutual support. This must continue as the prognosis for return of our electricity is not good news.

Councilman Loughlin and I have been in twice daily meetings with town officials and receive daily updates from our state officials.

The little good news to share is that PSEG has downgraded their original estimate from 9000 to 6700 Westfield homes without power. The eastern side of town as well as neighboring Garwood and Cranford are nearly fully operational.

We are presently waiting for major repairs to two transmission stations and four substations. We are advised that a temporary substation will be online tomorrow in Fanwood which will provide relief to only a few of our residents. At this point Pseg is unable to advise which homes/neighborhoods will be restored on this first round and when service will be returned on the larger scale but the best estimate us no earlier than Sunday and this is only an optimistic guesstimate.

For those in need of a charging station, for a short respite from the cold and for the most up to date information, we encourage everyone to go the library on E Broad Street.

School will remain closed this week. Next week grades K-5 will have 4 hour sessions M-W and full day Th-F. Grades 6-12 will have full day all week. Of course, this is subject to restoration of power which we all monitor every moment.

Finally Election Day is Tuesday November 5th. The polls will be open and everyone should vote at their normal polling place. This is effective regardless of restoration of power as the systems are equipped to work on battery power if required.

Please forward to all that would benefit from this information and i will provide more updates as I get information. Please excuse typos as iPhone does not appreciate the importance of this message.

James M. Foerst
Westfield Town Council - 4th Ward