Politics & Government

Message From Morris Township Mayor and Committee

Mayor urges patience and calm. Clean-up efforts are underway.

The following message was sent by Mayor H. Scott Rosenbush of Morris Township and the Morris Township Committee:

Morris Township Mayor H. Scott Rosenbush asked Tuesday that the residents be patient as clean-up efforts commence all over the State of New Jersey.

“JCP&L are working around the clock to provide service to all our residents. We have been in constant contact with JCP&L and are working with them to ensure Morris Township is back on-line as soon as possible. The majority of the power loss issues are related to the flooding of the Ridgedale Avenue substation which serves 18,000 customers in the greater Morristown area. JCP&L is working to move customers to other substations until repairs can be made to the Ridgedale substation.

Find out what's happening in Morris Township-Morris Plainswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"There will still be some areas of outage that are caused by wires down or trees on wires. We do not have any specific information or control as to when a residence or a neighborhood will be restored,” said Rosenbush. “Residents may see utility trucks pull up to a location and leave without doing any work. These are company representatives doing assessments as to the resources needed to restore the utility,” he added.

JCP&L hopes to have all customers moved to the other substations in the very near future. They have begun the assessment process as to where wires are down and resources need to replace them and clear them from downed trees. The restoration process shall continue through the weekend with priority given to areas that affect the greatest number of customers. JCP&L has brought in crews from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia to assist.

Find out what's happening in Morris Township-Morris Plainswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Mayor reiterated Monday’s request from Police Chief Dennis Reilly, “Please do not touch any downed wires and do not circumvent police barricades.  Do not assume the wires are not live. There have already been a number of fatalities up and down the coast where people have been electrocuted, we do not want Morris Township to be on that list.  Use caution. Wherever you have to go is not more important than your safety. Additionally, do not enter or try and navigate streams and areas with moving water and stay away from areas that have been washed away by storm water.”

The Department of Public works at 10 Jane Way will accept spoiled perishable food for disposal from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and on Saturday from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

If you need a pump-out of your basement call 973-326-7459 (non-emergency number) and speak with the police and fire dispatcher. You must have at least six inches of water. The Fire Department will provide this service, however, it may take some time as there are numerous requests.

The Mayor also urged all residents to dispose of any perishable food that may have been above 40 degrees for two hours or more. Food will stay cold in the refrigerator for about 4 hours if it is unopened.  If you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish or eggs while it is still at safe temperatures, it's important that each item is thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature to assure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present is destroyed.

Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container, or in cardboard juice/milk/baby formula boxes and home canned foods if there is any chance that it has come into contact with flood water. Food containers that are not waterproof include those with screw-off caps, snap lids and pull tops.  Inspect canned foods and discard any food in damaged cans. Can damage is shown by swelling, leakage, punctures, holes, fractures, extensive deep rusting, or crushing/denting severe enough to prevent normal stacking or opening with a manual, wheel-type can opener.  For infants, if using formula, try to use prepared, canned baby formula that requires no added water.

For additional information on food safety, please visit http://www.nj.gov/health/er/natural.shtml and http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm076881.htm#s2

The Mayor also cited some other helpful information:

Destroyed Personal Property- If you have large items or a significant amount of items damaged by water that need to be picked up for disposal please call the Department of Public Works 973-326-7398 for assistance.

Raw sewage backup - If you have any sewage backup please contact your insurance company and make arrangements for professional service clean up. Please notify our Sewer Department at 973-326-7363.

Trees down - Trees down are the responsibility of the homeowner. If a tree down is on the right of way, the Township will remove the contents on the right of way and, if need be, open access to driveways or streets.

Swim Pools -  Streeter Pool and Ginty Pool are open

Our municipal departments are working to assist in the clean up efforts. Please afford them your patience in getting their tasks completed. In the 25 hour period that our Emergency Operations Center was up and running (8:00pm Saturday to 9:00pm on Sunday) over 500 calls for assistance were handled by Police, Fire, OEM, MMM FAS, Engineering, DPW, WPCU and Health and Information Technology Departments to assist our residents. Many employees and volunteers worked numerous hours over the past 5 days to insure the safety of our residents and address any concerns, issues or needs. We will continue our efforts in getting the Township back to "normal" conditions.

“Please take every precaution for the next few days as we are all working around the clock to remove fallen trees, restore power, and assess the damage from this storm,” said Rosenbush. 

For any questions or assistance you may also call the Mayor and Administrator's office at 973-326-7360.


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