We checked-in with First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice on Thursday afternoon to find out the status of power restoration around Wilton and Eversource’s response.

She updated the town at 1 PM with an email, writing, “We have a full-court press as we try to get more crews into Wilton. We have a 5:15 call with the Governor.”   [Vanderslice’s full email follows after our interview with her.]

GOOD Morning Wilton:  So last night you got the call that Eversource crews weren’t coming. Did they give you a reason? Were they deploying them elsewhere? What did they tell you?

Lynne Vanderslice:  No, we got no information. Our representative told us they were scheduled, that they’d be arriving. We had our crews ready and waiting to work with them. Then we got notice they weren’t coming. No explanation.

Even this morning, our representative doesn’t know why they didn’t come. This is not the first time this has happened. The exact same thing happened in 2018, and [Police] Chief [John] Lynch tells me it’s happened before.

What is unusual is normally within 48 hours, we would have road clear crews here, clearing the emergency, priority roads. They’re not and that’s completely unacceptable and ridiculous. These are people who are trapped in landlocked roads. The fact that they aren’t here is bad. They obviously are completely overwhelmed by this and didn’t have the personnel in place.

The crews that are here from Canada are doing some clearing of trees–it’s not only the electric crew to work on the wires. They do have tree clearing personnel with them. But they’re not the road clearing crew. They’re subcontractors, they have a list of work to do, and they can’t make the decision to deviate. So it’s ridiculous.

I had a call today with some people who are on Erdmann Ln., they are landlocked. Meanwhile, the group from Canada is down at Freshwater Ln., which is accessible. But we have not been able to get anybody at Eversource to change their priorities.

GMW:  How many crews are in town? 

Vanderslice:  I don’t know. They haven’t been able to tell us. There’s communication problems within.

GMW:  They don’t know within their own company or that they can’t tell you?

Vanderslice:  As of my last update with the police, we didn’t have the information as to where everyone was. In any normal, non-COVID situation, we would normally be working in the Emergency Operations Center with someone from Eversource there. [Now,] we don’t have anybody from Eversource onsite. The person is in contact with us, but I imagine a lot of people are working remotely for Eversource, that’s my guess, and probably the pandemic is adding a layer of problems here that don’t normally exist.

That doesn’t excuse the fact that they weren’t prepared yesterday. The governor said they prepared for 350,000 and it was over 700,000 [customers left without power]. So that’s not an excuse for them, but I do think it may be hampering their internal communication.

GMW:  What is your recourse? You get residents saying, “Yell louder.” What’s your recourse to get Eversource to respond?

Vanderslice:  Our recourse is to hound them. Every town is doing the same thing. Some people would like me [complaining] in front of [TV] cameras all day long, but instead I’m working and I am hounding them.

But I am also doing things like getting WiFi hotspots set up outside Town Hall, working with [Parks & Recreation Director] Steve Pierce–we’re now going to be able to offer WiFi and charging stations Comstock, I’m working on other areas associated with this, where I can make a meaningful difference.

GMW:  Because typically the library would be a place where people could go to charge phones and get WiFi.

Vanderslice:  That’s exactly right. We now have to create the alternative. So we have those things set up and we’re working on more options for charging.

GMW:  Can anyone at Eversource give you an estimate for power restoration, at least for Wilton Center?

Vanderslice:  No. They expect to be able to give us an estimate tonight. The information that we received from them today is they are still continuing their assessments. They brought in additional crews from Canada and then brought in even more crews from Canada. They have crews in from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and they’ve started up the three staging areas in the state. They have to bring equipment in.

When a major transmission center goes down, like has happened in the Westport/Weston area, they are under a regulatory obligation to have that up within a certain number of hours. So I know that that’s a big focus for them. That will impact some Wilton residents. The problem is the wires might be fine on your road, but all wires are connected to other wires, which are connected to other wires. And if you have a big central transmission center that shuts down, that can impact it.

GMW:  Tell me about cell service. I know a lot of it is dependent on the power, but people are out of phone- and internet service and cell phone service. What about those utilities?

Vanderslice:  Those cable and internet services are often tied to power. So power has to get restored for them to be restored. As far as the cell towers, the only problem that we’re aware of is with the generator up on the cell tower in North Wilton. It’s the generator that powers the police radio. They were up there today and the generator for cell service is working. So, that tower lost power, but the generator kicked in.

There is a tremendous amount of traffic happening right now on those cell lines. All the data that is going through, there’s a greater capacity than we’ve probably ever had because people are 100% dependent on their cell phones for everything. But we’re not aware of any cell towers that are not working. It is typical that when the backup power service and the tower goes out completely, they will bring in a temporary generator to get that power back.

GMW:  They haven’t gotten to that stage that you know of…

Vanderslice:  Right. And we’re only aware of one generator that isn’t working and that shouldn’t be impacting anybody other than the police. And we have alternate power for that, so we’re covered.

GMW:  Speaking of police and town crews, they must be working on fumes. How are our town employees dealing with this?

Vanderslice:  The Police, Fire, EMS, they’ve been working straight since this pandemic started. And we’re down two officers in the Police Department, so we are short-staffed and folks are working overtime. The DPW, they’re working a lot of overtime right now. [Last night] we had a crew that worked their full shift, and then were waiting up until after 11-ish for Eversource to arrive when they didn’t. So they go back home and then they’re back here at seven in the morning today.

Town personnel are out there working incredibly hard. They’re working long hours overtime. People are being called in and they’re doing everything they have to do to get it done. The fire department was at a house fire on Tuesday in Georgetown; on Wednesday they were at Town Hall in Weston where there was a fire. We’ve had some brush fires as a result of downed wires (which is why we ask people, please stay away from those wires; please do not cut a tree on your property that has a wire on it because they can be electrified). And we’ve got everybody in Town Hall in the administrative departments working hard to support not only the personnel that are out there, but to come up with the ideas of how to get some things done, like providing WiFi and charging stations for residents.

Then the Registrars of Voters and the Town Clerk, in the middle of all of this, we still have a primary on Tuesday. We still have the problem with those ballots [that the Secretary of State did not mail out]. The Town Clerk got those 200 ballots to the Post Office. Then of course the next day, the post office didn’t have power. So we’re hoping the residents have those ballots.

The registrars are planning for an alternate site if we have to move the primary polling locations. Right now, there’s no generator at Middlebrook and Cider Mill. So if there still is no power on Tuesday in those two locations, we are going to have to move where the voting will take place. Hopefully that won’t happen. That decision will be made on Monday.

GMW:  It must be exhausting for town employees.

Vanderslice:  Yes. We’ve been on full alert since this pandemic. Just as it’s on every resident’s mind, it’s on our mind during all our waking hours. And now you add this onto it. For the employees, it’s been nothing like any of us have ever experienced. Just like every other resident, we have all the other stuff we’re trying to deal with in our personal lives throughout the pandemic and now, employees are without power but they still had to come to work. But everything’s getting done and that is the thing that I have to just say has been amazing throughout this whole thing–everybody has just done what they have to do and it’s getting it’s done. So, I’m really thankful for the people that we have.

Here’s what Vanderslice’s 1 p.m. email detailed:

Tree Removal/Road Clearing:

  • DPW and Parks and Grounds personnel continue to clear roads and areas with downed trees and debris.
  • Eversource contracted crews from Canada are again in town clearing wires and trees for when power can be restored. They are not authorized by Eversource to address the landlocked roads. It makes no sense, but nonetheless, thank you Canadians for getting here quickly!
  • The road clearing crews, who handle priority roads and areas like Wilton Center,  are normally first on scene in less than 48 hours. There is no answer from Eversource why they weren’t and aren’t here.
  • Town personnel cannot cut trees that contain wires, as wires could become electrified and electrocute that town personnel. Eversource personnel have access to and coordinate with Eversource transmission personnel to ensure the wires aren’t electrified while the work is being performed. That option isn’t available for municipalities.
  • If you are able, please stay off the roads.

Power Restoration:

  • Eversource’s current statement is they expect to have restoration information available tonight.
  • Eversource also provided the following:
  1. Staging areas at Danbury Welcome Center, Eversource’s Waterbury Area Work Center, and Lake Compounce in Bristol are set up to receiving outside crews and expediting delivery of equipment to locations where repairs are being made.
  2. Additional crews arrived yesterday, Wednesday, August 5, from Canada, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts to assist with restoration efforts. More crews will be arriving throughout the day.
  3. The damage from this storm cannot be overstated and our damage assessment is ongoing.
  4. Though it is early in our assessment, as of 8 a.m., Thursday, August 6, our patrollers identified:

390 broken poles
2,600 downed spans of electrical wire
1,829 trees to be removed
605 blocked roads
142 damaged transformers

WiFi Access and Charging Stations

  • Town Hall:  A WiFi hotspot is now available on the back (vestibule) side of Town Hall.  It is accessible from the parking areas. If you do leave your car to access the hot spot, please maintain social distance. The name is Towguest.  The password is Warrior1.
  • Wilton High School:  WiFi is accessible in the parking lot between the Field House and Lilly Field. Password is Warrior1. Please maintain social distance.
  • Comstock:  Beginning tonight, residents can sign-up for 2-hour access inside Comstock for WiFi use and electronics charging:
    1. Weeknights open from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
    2. Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    3. Sign-up via e-Trak or by calling (weekdays) or visiting Comstock if you can’t access e-Trak.
    4. Walk-ins are allowed if space is available.
    5. You must wear a mask and complete a contact form.
    6. Bring your device and extension cords.
    7. Socially distant tables and chairs provided.
    8. Staff will be onsite
    9. No bathrooms.
    10. Currently, air conditioning isn’t working. Awaiting repair.

Other Information:

  • Water is available at the Fire Station. Please bring a container and call ahead or knock on the back door on the Town Hall side of the building. Oxygen is not available.
  • As of tomorrow, Friday, the Transfer Station returns to regular hours for residents only. No haulers.

Another update will be provided this evening. If you wish to contact me please email at lynne.vanderslice@wiltonct.org.