City of Glen Cove Declares Snow Emergency

The City of Glen Cove has declared a snow emergency–in effect until 6 p.m. Wednesday evening–as The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch, and officials say that the area could get blasted with 8 to 14 inches of snow.

has not reported any cancellations or delays as of Tuesday afternoon, but the superintendent's office administrators said that a decision will be reached at around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

Mayor Ralph Suozzi said that the city is preparing for the storm as they always do by making sure equipment is running at capacity, coordinating with county operations and alerting residents through the emergency/community notification system.

The city is well-equipped to handle winter storms this season, Suozzi said, as new plows were recently purchased, and all new pickup trucks are plow capable and are equipped with automatic chains on the tires.

"Public works is all hands on deck during a storm," Suozzi said. "We use the same men who do garbage pickup to drive the plows, and they work the same neighborhoods, so they are familiar with the roads. They do an excellent job. Each snow storm, I receive fewer and fewer complaints."

Heavy metal pickup is scheduled for Wednesdays, and will be postponed in the event of heavy snow.

$250,000 has been allotted for snow removal this year–a budget that has been tracked over time and created based on the previous year's snow spending–said Suozzi.

While Suozzi said that the city stretched the snow budget last year, leftover funds are carried over for snow-related expenses. 

"We went over a bit last year, but we can't predict the weather," Suozzi said.

The city has restocked on winter supplies .

"We purchased more salt and sand since the last storm, even though we had plenty last time," Suozzi said. "We also asked the county to come in more aggressively and clear more county roads this time, like Cedar Swamp and Forest Avenue; the county has been very cooperative."

With 75 miles worth of roadway to be cleared and 402 roads, city employees are expected to first clear priority facilities, including the fire department, police station, EMS, and hospital parking lots and major roads.

"The plows come back at night to do Downtown to make sure commerce continues as normal," Suozzi said.

Chief Anthony Tripp of  said that the most important thing residents can do is make sure the fire hydrants in front of their homes are clear.

The city requires residents to abide by the following guidelines in the event of a now emergency:

• Residents are responsible for clearing the sidewalks in front of their homes.
• Snow and ice must be removed in front of residential and commercial premises within 12 hours of snow fall.
• Residents must park in their driveways or on the odd-numbered side of the street to allow for DPW plowing operations.

Glen Cove Patch will continue to update this story throughout the storm.