I think once this is all over, there should be a complete investigation how this was handled, especially by JCP&L. I am appalled how JCP&L has kept residents in the dark (both figuratively and literally). While I applauded the Mayor for all the hard work she has done, and continue to does, I also feel things fell through the cracks. I understand no one could foresee what occurred, however I still think an “internal” investigation would be helpful to better prepare ourselves (as a town) in the future. Thank you Mayor for keeping us advised!!!

this is what she should have been doing since day 1, but i do appreciate the leadership shes showing now, now we just need this power back. dupont meaning dupont rd? off of bell?

I made a mistake to voting her in... still no power near Brooklyn mt rod and broadway and help in sight?

Glad to hear all of this, even though it's a little late! However, what about those residents that do not have internet access in any way, shape or form? How will they be able to get all the information they need? Pease let us know about this.

Hopatcong has done a horrible job and so has jcpl

Petillo better start raising hell or we WON'T get power any time soon. As for her blaming JCP&L, that's a load of crock! I know for a fact she has NOT been in contact with them since her home & town hall got power !! My contacts at JCP&L said she hasn't been contacting them at all. Stop putting the blame where it doesn't belong! YOU are the problem! People also need to realize that the poles by their homes aren't always the problem either. There's a LOT of poles in the woods that feed from the substations to the street poles!Another thing to remember is, EVERYONE needs to report outages as your neighbors may be on a separate grid. The other thing is, the power companies don't own ALL poles. Cable & phone companies own poles as well. Whether you're a customer of 1 company or the other, call ALL utility companies to report outages Mayor Petillo, I for one (& many other residents know the truth about you & that this pack of lies you're telling the press is just making us more angry. The Mayor of Mt. Arlington called the power company yesterday afternoon raising cane. Guess what happened? ALL OUR TRUCKS LEFT HOPATCONG & restored Mt. Arlington in about 3 hrs! Why won't you do the same for us? We're supposed to be able to depend on you, yet you continuously let us down. SHAME ON YOU!

Really, you just realized that JCP&L was not accurate? All you needed to do was look at their website & the overinflated numbers. Nice try Mayor. Hope you are now on the ball.

Is there any way to find out if FEMA will reimburse for hotel accomodations? We have been forced to leave our home due to uninhabitable conditions.

facebook great idea...but 80% of us cannot access it.

Good job Mayor!

I love how our hard working mayor decides 10 days later to state that the town was provided inaccurate information regarding jcpl restoration numbers for the town....oh, like I am suppose to be impressed that you are sitting on conference calls with our president....give me a break...mayor, its not rocket science to know if you drive around the town, you see most of hopatcong in the dark...oh wait, she doesn't know cuz she is "hard at work" working those "15 hour days"....the fact that you wait 10 days to decide to go on live radio and then on this website to finally say that you will be providing updates, you should be ashamed of yourself...and then to make that statment that that 80 percent of the town is still in the dark, my frustration is beyond how I could write here..

Mast and Beacon road now have power.

Slackers!!! You would think the town officials would be keeping a better tally on the progress being made. Very, very sad! My parents are having trouble dealing with this now as they are older with health issues and are past the breaking point now. And I am completely DISGUSTED now!!!! Shine on Hopatcong, Shine On!!

Mayor, can you begin your communication improvement by reaching out to jcpl and asking them why the numbers for our town's outage r down to the 1400's on their website...

I have a family member who works for pse&g and was pulled to answer calls for the past week and a half. I was told that mayors of towns who use that power company are having the same problem as hopatcong. They are frantic, asking for accurate numbers and information, asking for help as soon as possible. But, the power companies can only help so many people at a time. I was frustrated at Petillo at first, too. But after hearing that mayors are having this trouble all over the state, I can't blame her for this situation. She's doing the best she can.

This is unacceptable staying in a hotel adds up,boarding for animals and going out for food. We are working people and this is getting to be very expensive. When can we LAN on getting power any ideas?

This is what we have been asking for since Day one ! I am thankful that at least we can get an update. What would also be great is if we could have an idea as to the timing by areas. Hopatcong Heights is still without power and no crews within sight here.

JCP&L just tweeted a report showing only 32% of households have no service. More fiction? As far as the Heights, last report from a neighbor was that the tree down across Harris was still down and untouched.

Still no power on Brooklyn-Stanhope Road.
This is not acceptable for anybody.
We need & deserve answers!

Smokerise rd any idea

Bout Time!

High School Shelter has done a wonderful job for people. But communication was lacking for sure.

"Communication will improve" how about now, when are we getting power!!!!!!! Improve communications now!!!!!

I live just past Elba ...they have power but it seems to have stopped their .. i see poles on the ground but not a truck in sight for days...we have to drive over downed wires to get out of our neighborhood. How about some kind of info on this side of the bridge Miss. Mayor!! How about sending a patrol car into the neighborhoods without power to let us know whats going on!!!! Im lucky to have a smartphone. But

Facebook only helps with those who have Internet or smartphones. Anyway there could be a printed version disbursed say at the HS and Post office

People if you are not satisfied with the power restoration effort (or the removal of tree effort which is of equal concern) contact your Congressman. I just did and they already called me back with more information. They even gave me the number to the office in Washington DC to keep them up to date of the situation.

For Rodney Frelinghuysen email https://frelinghuysenforms.house.gov/contact-form

or call 202 225 5034 or 973 984 0711.

It's time for some action in our town. This is ridiculous.

I am still a little confused. The numbers JCP&L just posted say that 32% are without power. Is it 32% or 80%? They have also posted that the remaining 2,074 of us without power will get is by the end of the day on the 9th. On the 5th, they indicated that only 93% would have power on by the end of the day on the 9th. There was no mention of the other 7%. On the 6th, the 100% restored was shifted to the 10th. And now we will all have power on the 9th. Please, please, get us accurate information.

Its only good if it has POWER!!! We all know that everyone is working hard to get things back to the normal. We just need the info so we can continue to prepare for the long haul. It coast alot to run my generator everyday. I have plugged in as many other houses as i can...

I am disgusted with this mayor. She should resign when this mess is over.

We wanted communication but now we want the &$@?!!@@ POWER!

We are just asking for info!!! Not lies but the truth on the situation ...

I live by St. Jude's, and all the damage that was there 10 days ago us still there, and we have yet to see any trucks...at all. A joke and a disgrace.

To me the bigger concern is getting the power lines/poles off the roads even if they can't get the power restored yet. With the snow coming, how can a plow/sander get through on Maxim Drive in front of the Methodist Church? I hear there are roads blocked up in the Northwood section of town too. If it snows a lot and the plows can't get through on the roads that creates a real safety hazard. I spoke to someone at JCP&L today when I called to ask about this situation and they told me they hoped to have the whole town restored to power by Sunday. Based on this Patch article stating the inaccuracies of the JCP&L website, I'm not holding out much hope that will happen. The kids in this town need to get back to school. Thank you to all the town volunteers who are helping out. Does anyone know where help is needed so we can volunteer?

HAHA! it took her a week to figure that JCP&L was making the number up out of thin air! anyone with two eyes could see that on day 2.

We are not prepared for this type of disaster. People learn by experience. Give them all a break. I don't have power yet either but they can't be in all places at one time. With that said, I'm sure the mayor never "did" disasters before.

Communication is great as long as it will be telling us something, like what IS the eta for getting power back????? I've been around town and have seen only a couple of power trucks, where are they, what is the Governor doing to help?

This may be the first time in Hopatcong reported history a Mayor was ousted from office by public opinion. It may be assumed the "Governing body" calls the shots however remember there are far more tax paying citizens many of whom have been here for decades, if you band together for a public majority vote done in a public place and present it to the County and the Borough, necessary Governor, it may be time for even the new "administration" to start looking for other part time work.

north Caldwell, had a "mayors map" where he tracked power restorations and kept JCPL honest... a week in and our mayor is going to create a facebook page?! How much did Hopatcong.org cost and it hasnt been updated since Thursday.

According to your numbers, in a week we ahve restored 20% of the town. At this rate, we have a month to go. What is the plan? Do we have any reason to believe things are going to go faster? Ask JCPL- What do you need to make it go faster and get the governor on the line and tell him what we need. If he wont listen, get the newspapers on the line and get news 12 out to my neighbor in his 70's with no heat - We'll ask Obama if he's forgotton us. Do we need triple the people we have out there working on lines? We need answers, not another facebook page where we can rant.

(although ranting does feel pretty good)

She heard our concerns and wishes and is making adjustments, no one is perfect and we can continue to be upset about the lack of communication up to now, but we also have to be grateful for her response to our complaints. I personally thank you Mayor for listening and responding. Now lets hope we start seeing a difference.

Will the substation really need to be replaced? Can't they bring in a temporary one?

Great story but really this late in the game? Hello Accountability should have been your card from the start, i'll just send my tax check in a envelope and forget the check part... How hard is it to look out your window and say hmm damn its dark in town the peasants must not have power yet..

@lauren - great writing but can we get some fact checks on JCP_L numbers and MP's alleged conversation with the pres?

maybe Chrispy Cream will get off his butt and come visit the peasants up the hill. We get it the shore was destroyed and that sucks, i'm not allowed in my shore house to verify the damage and thats another battle, but the fact remains theres other counties in the state that are in trouble as well...giddy up buddy

post cards from hell has frozen over and made its camp in Hopatcong..

When I called JCP&L I was told not to worry my meter is not running so I am not being charged for the power I am not receiving.Are they joking!!!!

Congressman? Yeah, that will help

We'll be dead by then, like most at the end of the movie 'The Day after'

Northwood Rd is still a mess and no crews in sight. Lines and trees laying across the road and as somebody previously posted here...how are the plows and salt trucks going to get by? This is ridiculous!!!

This "Mayor" is a joke, and that fat slob in Trenton is worse. He cried for twenty minutes about a boardwalk and his favorite sausage stand being destroyed at the shore, yet his entire contribution to the masses is that we should impose odd/even restrictions on gasoline; fuel that we need to power the generators we had to purchase to take care of ourselves!

With an entire nation full of fuel to the west of us, why aren't gas trucks lined up around the block? Why has Christy not ordered the generators sitting dormant on State construction projects be sent to gas stations? Why isn't fuel being subsidized, or vouchers being issued? Why hasn't the Army Corp of Engineers been pressed into service to augment the pathetic non-efforts of JCP&L - or at least step in for the Borough do-nothings or tree guys I find sitting in area parking lots half the day?!?

On the heels of this national election we need a major recall election in NJ- and to once and for all kick these elitist, bloated, corrupt, and uncaring politicians out of office!

While I am sympathetic to all who have lost much, much than just power & cable, I am disgusted at the lack of restoration effort for our town. To be told by a JCP&L lineman that it is a good possibilty we will not be restored until DECEMBER 4th is so far beyond unacceptable, it's insulting - As is a FB page being created for the solution for better communication! REALLY? THAT is the solution? Mayor Petillo should be embarrassed by the way the town has been neglected, and ashamed that nothing was done about it until now.

On which Dupont were they working? The one off Bell/Ford, or the longer one near crescent cove?
By the way JCPL is telling customers they "hope" to have "the majority" of us restored by Sunday night -but no promises.

There is NO way she's been to the shelter! I know someone volunteering everyday, most of the day & the residents are SO furious, they'd eat her alive. Petillo lied through her teeth on the radio today as well. She should resign before the residents riot! These linemen are busting their humps, away from their loved ones & tired, yet keep working. Petillo is NOT in constant communication with JCP&L, this I do know for a fact! I have contacts within the company that confirmed this. My contact told me the mayor needs to raise cane as the mayor of Mt. Arlington did.
As far as contacting the Congressmen, I've emailed Petillo with a CC to ALL Councilmen Freeholders, County & State Officials to also investigate Petillo. I still haven't seen the outcome of her court hearing about using the town money for her personal political promotion of who she "suggested" we vote for something or not & to "answer YES" to a particular question on the ballot. That money is to come out of her own pocket, not steal it from the tax paying residents!

Ms Mayor
What did the gov, congressman, president, and JCPL say when you contacted them?

Krissy that is unbelievable? What planet are those folks on?

I too feel there should have been more communication from the Mayor. I'm not really sure how, maybe flyers at the shelter? I've been going on the Hopatcong Police FB page, but it's got a hostile feel. "Don't drive on Lakeside Blvd. or you will be ticketed." Please!
Anyway, I definitely feel uninformed.

I know we are in a crisis here in Hopatcong but to add more pain to us here in Hopatcong .Who in the hell does Niel P think he is taking a school truck home with a plow on it and do his drive way where he lives in Sparta .I am so fed up as a tax payer paying for him to take a school vehicle home for his personal use .His orange ford range is in the upper parking Lot of the H.S. He has done this serval times and nothing had happen.Neil P needs to be fired .I was told he was gone for the day and noticed his personal truck still there .Enough is enough .

5pm utility trucks all over Northwood - The town needs to be investigated as well as JCP&L as to how this was handled - It is totally un-acceptable 7 or more days without power - The mayor needs to step up NOW! Dump JCP&L - We need sussex rural electric

It's not the mayor who needs to be ousted, its jcp&l who needs to go. Park Ridge in Bergen County has itsown electric utility and repaired Sandy's damage within one day. Hopatcong should explore doing the same. Public employees would put the public before profit.

How come Niel P gets to take a school truck with a plow on it and you know he well do his drive way in Sparta .He needs to be fired .

I think our mayor should set up a twitter account to keep us updated. Newark's mayor, Cory Booker, has done a tremendous job keeping his city informed with constant updates.

I now live in Mine Hi but was raised in Hopatcong and still have friends there. Heartbreaking to hear still no power!!! My mayor used a system called Swiftreach. We had daily sometimes hourly text messages, Emails and Facebook page updates. Thats what Hopatcong should have. I feel the reason we only have 18% without power is because of his communication with JCP&L keeping the pressure on them and with the peopke of the town. I feel for you all and pray power is restored sooner rather then later.

spetillo@hopatcong.org

Five double-dipping New Jersey county sheriffs were re-elected in Tuesday’s election, but it was a losing day for an undersheriff who tried a power play at taxpayers’ expense.
Sussex County Undersheriff George DeOld was forced to resign after he was caught with one of the county’s emergency generators at his home for personal use in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
“It’s an unfortunate incident,” Sheriff Michael Strada told the New Jersey Herald.
DeOld is no stranger to gaming government. His annual take was $162,969 a year – a $96,525 county salary from the county plus a $66,444 pension as a Paterson City police retiree, as previously reported by New Jersey Watchdog.
Neither is Sheriff Strada, who draws a $107,250 salary plus a $28,392 pension as a Mt. Olive police retiree. For his undersheriffs, Strada hired three double-dippers, including DeOld. http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2012/11/07/power-play-backfires-for-sussex-undersheriff/

If this situation continues much longer the statistics will be of homes lost to frozen pipes or deaths due to exposure/hypothermia- and they won't be ficticious #s made up by some JCP&L PR rep. Mayor- it's time to escalate this DAILY or even twice a day directly to our Govenor, elected congressmen and every member of the NJ Board of Public Utilities!!!!!

Also- for every person apalled by JCP&L's lack of honesty in their outage and restoration #s and timelines, and lack of disaster recovery preparedness and responsiveness - you can file a complaint with the state board that oversees and awards the utilities http://www.state.nj.us/bpu/assistance/complaints/inquiry.htmls

Does anyone else think a Class Action Lawsuit should be filed against JCP&L? I have heard over and over, from town to town, no one is doing anything. Very little clean up efforts and even less repairs. Not just in Hopatcong, but in many towns far and wide. Everyone is discussed.

DuPont still does not have power even though in this article the mayor specifically states they are working on the road. Well done liars, well done.

It is amazing to me that the mayor said the gardens are up. That is a blatant lie. The only street up in the gardens is hers. Hmm how surprising. I have not seen Evidence of anyone even looking in our area. In addition an entire block is without water. So the town best retract the gardens is up and running.

FB page is very thoughtful, but they already have a page http://www.hopatcong.org/ and the last update in there is from the 4th, that is already 4 days ago, so not the pagee is missing just the good intention of keeping us informed.

So do we have a Facebook page?

It's great to finally see detailed information from our mayor. Our best source of information for the past 10 days has been WRNJ AM and FM...they've done a fantastic job keeping listeners updated on where to get gas, generators, batteries, gas cans, etc. and have connected people who need help with people who can help. Granted the information is mostly for Warren County, but they've also aired great, detailed interviews with the mayors of Mount Olive, Mount Arlington and Washington Twp. The mayor of Hopatcong? Haven't heard a word. So kudos to WRNJ...and sorry, but a barely passing grade for our mayor and her communications, which are kind of a day late and a dollar short. Please, Mayor Petillo, now that you've finally begun to communicate directly with us -- the powerless -- instead of with the President of the United States (?!) (Really? You expected him to do anything for Hopatcong?!), keep the lines of communication open with your constituents. Daily updates should have begun October 29th when the storm first hit. Now that they've finally begun, keep them coming. In fact, maybe since they're so late coming, you can play catch up and issue morning, afternoon and evening updates. Thanks from just another one of the 80%...or is it 68%... or is it 75%...who has just entered Day 10 without power.

You can't blame an entire company just because a representative of theirs didn't do their job. Unless they knew it and did nothing about it. So first we need to find out all the facts before we set blame.
Just Saying

Again, tolatlly lame excusses from the mayor as usual, she needs to go. Take moneys from jcpl. Pay her off for what? Useless ! She just full of BS !

So when will the mayor tell us something? It's already 8AM on Thursday, what's the current update? And how often will the updates be? Hopefully hourly at this point.

Mayor, you have a job to do in this town, if YOU cant handle it....STEP DOWN NOW! WE had enough of your lies !

Amazing how on the same day this article was posted, the latest "update" from JCP&L shows the ENTIRE town having power by tomorrow (Friday) night!!

I want to see REAL numbers!!

https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/dam/newsroom/files/Town_ETR_Report.pdf

JCP&L needs to be held responsible for the outage time - Hopatcong does need to consider having their own electric utility as stated - Shame on the poor communication and un-reliable information from both JCP&L and town officials - Credit all residents who also pay the outrageous sewer bill quarterly

There are also ALOT of trees that could and should have been pruned long before Sandy hit us. I have been reporting trees that dangerously loom over power lines for years with no success. I have called the DPW and they honestly don't care, JCP&L only "opens a ticket" but I have never seen anything done about them....Well a couple of those trees have now fallen and taken out some poels & lines...Still can't think that SOME of the damage could have been prevented with just some pruning here and there, cutting up looming limbs and dropping dead trees....But then again the 9/11 Memorial was proably much more important than tree maintenance.

P.S. I agree Petillo has to go! And if it takes this disaster for people to finally realize it then so be it.

So what do we do if we haven't been able to work for the past 2 weeks and with all this extra expense funds are getting low?? I simple just asking, not blaming anyone for anything I just don't know what to do.

I've spoke to 2 different linemen crews that came from Arkansas and Kentucky and they are appalled at our system. They Both said that we are not trimming trees around poles and that is what is causing this major problem with poles coming down, they also said that our system is OLD! and that the parts are hard to get. The guy from Kentucky ended his day at 9 pm and he was exhausted. JCP&L is the problem because they haven't updated or even check out the poles/lines in years....The system needs to be updated!

Stil without power and agree with everyone we just want honest answers so we can prepare ourselves. JCP&L when they answer after listening to the song sang by Tom Petty "Waiting is the hardest part" on their hold music aggrivation is kicking in. 7-10 days? we were hopeful but now we are all tired, scared, cold and spending more money then we thought we would on food and gas. If they need more help to clear trees etc find a way. Not everyone in the United States was effected by this disater when does the Government help us? We are suppose to be there for eachother as a nation. Small towns, big cities and states we need to work together.

Good news, JCPL just tweeted a report showing only 32% of Hopatcong is still down. I must be true right? Where is the information today?

To S Coventry, yes, I was painfully aware they got voted in again; perhaps you missed the sarcasm in my statement.

I have been advised the Mayor is working the shelter handling out meals. This is a wonderful thing, giving meal to people who are in a place they would rather not be, because perhaps and I say perhaps the very person they are receiving that meal from has not put forth the needed effort (yell loud enough and they will hear you) to resolve the problem that has them there in the first place. Now there's an Oxymoron for you.

Let's talk a home or structure without electric, heat, water or a working sanitation system, doesn't that revoke the CO? Shouldn't that home be declared for all purposes, condemned? Is it just me or does that sound about correct? Does that mean there are 1,900 homes currently in Hopatcong )in addition to those already vacant) I believe that is theoretically an accurate statement. Uh oh.... I sound like a troublemaker, better run me out of town!

40 out of town linemen sitting here in the lobby of Split Rock resort. They are dying to get into NJ to start working but have been waiting for orders. Sadly no orders or direction has arrived. They cannot believe the disorganization of these power companies

There is one thing I totally can't tolerate and that is a liar. Yea I bet she was on a conference call with President Barack Obama. I'm so happy she is at the shelter giving out hot lunches who cares about the folks that have no power. This is all an act she is trying to show the folks that she cares...... NOT Well guess what if she really cared she would spend a few nights in one of our homes and she exactly what we are all going through.

No big surprise here... those guys are sitting around waiting for work meanwhile the guys here are sitting around not working. Sort of balances out in the final count.

Time for one of those "townhall meetings" that were so popular in election season? LEt's hold it at the Mayor's house - I hear she has power.

Heard it's going to be a while before power is restored. And in Lake Hopatcong it is so bad that it may be Jan 2013 before they get it all back.

We are in this pickle because our wires are in the air just like 200 years ago when they ran the telegraph lines. Are you looking for a shovel ready project? Bury the lines, then we can pile up all the old poles and have a nice bonfire.

Mick2b send them our way,and thank them...
Lauren Mennen sounds like a great story for Patch.. Residence Freeze while out of state help waits!!

This is the worst storm to have hit the area. Mistakes are going to be made, things are going to go against plan, frustration is the emotion of the day. Disaster teams are not there to make things back to normal, they are there to help survive the bad times. Let’s try to keep personalities on the back burner and concentrate on getting the town out of this mess. I am sure that the mayor and her staff are working along with the county, state and federal agencies but remember, they too are spread thin. Helping each other rather than looking for help would really go a long way to the over-all end to this mess. The mayor is not at that shelter just to hand out meals: as a town leader she is setting an example for all of us to pitch in.

Latest update to the PDF says Hopatcong will have power tomorrow. How can this be in any way accurate?! They haven't even put the poles up on Maxim!
https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/dam/newsroom/files/Town_ETR_Report.pdf

This is a joke.. This is a " " joke.. JCPL is to blame for their LACK of organization!! Not the workers.. The higher up!! THOUSANDS of people here to work and 1/2 of them can't because JCPL hasn't given them the order to do so.. SO now our extra help is just sitting around and they are not afraid to say why!! Our mayor is a " " liar. Don't say they are working on an area unless that area is turned on with power!!! She should step into JCPL and start learning. SO that she can tell people what needs to be done in this town, start caring for the town YOU are in charge of!! Quit complaining and quit pointing the finger!! Mayor YOU want results, YOU have to get in there and do what you have to do.. There is NOTHING President Obama can do for us! So get off the phone with him! Get those switches ON!! I understand there are parts of Hopatcong that are still disheveled, WHY?? Someone needs to get the approval to tell the THOUSANDS of help, to get in here and fix this. AND start telling the truth as to why some of these issues are not being dealt with. And if you can't do this, then find someone who can!!! Also get some our town people to clean up the park so that the children, who are out of school, can play!! I'm sure there are plenty of volunteers being some us haven't gone back to work yet!! Bottom line, DO YOUR JOB SO OTHERS CAN DO THERES!!! I'm done venting, for now!

I LOVE HOW MY COMMENT GOT DELETED.
WHAT A FOOL WE HAVE RUNNING THIS PAGE!

GET RID OF THE MAYOR, GET RID OF JCP & L AND GET RID OF WHO IS RUNNING TIS PAGE!!!!!!!

Could have buried the electric cables when then dug up half the roads in town to put in the sewers that no one wanted. Or gas lines, so we could at least cook. How about city water so we flush our toilets. Nope. I got in an argument with a guy when I told him we had none of that, and we were getting sewers. He said "impossible, sewers are the last to be put in town because of gravity". Thanks Hopatcong.

This is a disgrace and so unacceptable. My family of six can not afford to continue to live out of a hotel. I honestly can not believe how disorganized this has been. I am a middle-aged women and I am having a hard time dealing with it, image the elderly people in Hopatcong. Get the POWER running!!!

They JCP&L have one of the best public relations companies I have ever seen. Maybe this is why we have heard they run of poles, transformers, and parts for sub-stations, all the money is being spent on public relation?
I am so glad the Mayor and the Town Consul have finely seen what most town residents have known for quite awhile that you cannot trust JCP&L information on progress of the town getting back power.
All the Mayor or the Town Consul would have had to do was going to the area or send someone and see the progress or snow job they were getting.
We heard 1,900 back on by Sunday night and that did not work, then only 34% of town without power, guest not, and last but I doubt least know 80% of town still without power. Are we seeing a pattern here?
After the Mayor gave the areas of work going on today by JCP&L which were Dupont and Lakeside Boulevard I drove down Lakeside Boulevard at 11:00am and could not find a single power truck from JCP&L or any other power company, the only truck I saw on Lakeside Boulevard was a single cable company truck.
Mayor Petillo also said the biggest problem was that officials have been getting inaccurate information from JCP&L, and the initial JCP&L numbers that they ( the town officers) received were incorrect she said.
So let me get this straight, it took them 11 days to finger out the JCP&L phone were incorrect, 11 days for them to finger out JCP&L still had 80% of the town without power.

This is the rest of comment which was over the word limit.
My questions to the town officers are Did anyone every call the numbers? Did anyone every go out and check on the progress of JCP&L?
I believe that after this is all over there should be an official inquiry as to why the Mayor and the Council really did for 11 days.

I guess daily update is a relative term. No update for today?

For those who don't have Facebook, this was posted this evening. A neighbor also spotted crews in the Heights area. There is more to the post but this site limits posts to 1500 words

Facebook Page Reads...
Hopatcong Borough
EMERGENCY UPDATE 11/8/12

MAYOR’S STATEMENT

Hurricane Sandy has brought historical damage and unprecedented emergencies to Hopatcong. Our residents continue to suffer and face the despair of uncertainty of the restoration of power. We are in frequent contact with our JCP&L representatives, the Governor’s Office, Federal, State and County officials. As we receive updates, we will get them to the public on a daily basis. We are working continuously to help our residents thru this time of crisis.

NOTICES TO THE PUBLIC

Power restoration by JCP&L has been very slow and we believe to be overestimated. Some areas have been restored. Today JCP&L has 23 trucks and crews throughout the Borough. Verizon and Cablevision are also in the Borough. No specific locations identified. Updates will be posted as received by JCP&L.

There was a water break in the Civic Center, Garden’s section. DPW repaired the break and water service has been restored.

Water from the Borough water tanks does not have to be boiled for use. There is misinformation out on this. Again, Borough tank water does not have to be boiled.

Payment deadline for November 1st Taxes has been extended to November 30th.

Shelter remains open at Hopatcong High School

I'm so sorry to hear about all the problems over there in Hopatcong. I live in Jefferson. We were updated at least 2 times a day everyday through Emails, text messages and phone calls. I can say I'm proud of the way my town handled the problem. I was without power for 8 days, but was updated everyday to what progress was being made. I'm glad to have the leadership in my town that we did. After reading this story it's time for your mayor to step down. 10 days and now she is looking into a facebook page? She's not the brightest!

Can someone please get the trees OFF the lines on Monroe??? There is power from the center of town out on the line but of course stops at the tree. 10 days and the tree is still hanging there on the wires. everyone past the down tree has nothing. this is stupidity. get the trees OFF the LINES at least!

Maybe the mayor should verify the numbers by getting in Mini-Van 1 and driving through the town around 7 pm. No lights, no service.

Rich Smith,
If she was such a "town leader",we would have our power back ! A leader steps foward and takes control, she does nothing. She has the power to use, maybe she dont know how...She should step down as mayor and let someone else take over, who has the balls to make a difference for ALL of us that live in this town, one who is not lazy, when it comes to the peoples welfare...

starting to lose my patience....where is the updates.....moving onto 11 days now....COME ON MAN!!!!!

Got to say that I'm extremely disappointed in the Hopatcong Leadership (or lack thereof). We should have been "empowered" days ago. Sylvia Petillo should be ashamed at her lack of performance and her entire team's lack of peformance. You didn't know JCP&L was distorting the numbers??? Try getting in your car and driving down Maxim Drive...you won't be able to...it's now closed off and the Hopatcong finest are giving out tickets! It's been 11 days!!! Where have you been and why haven't you taken care of this issue LONG AGO???? Shame, shame, shame!

JCPL web site says not a damn thing for updates......streets are looking better but WHERE IS THE POWER.....oh please jcpl give me my power back....i feel like I've lost two weeks of my life

COME ON PETILLO......WHAT ARE YOU DOING??????????????

so whats the story with the HS being a regional Red Cross Shelter.....does that mean delays for our kids getting back to school due to other towns not having power? I hope not!!!!!! Does the town benefit from this in any way?

ON A ROLL.....YEAH BABY!!!

The handout update they gave out stated the water was fixed in the gardens it is not...... All they did to fix the problem was to turn off our "effen water "

As a resident of this town for forty plus years, I am not surprised that we are, as usual, one of the last ares to receive the attention of utilitiy companies when power outages occur. Granted, a unique set of events led to immense wind damage affecting this region, but there is still no acceptable excuse, for the number of homes still without any services. If, as Mayor Petillo suggests, the power companies have misinformed, or published false numbers, than they should be held accountable. The outside plant in this town is outdated, many transformers are undersized, and it takes very little for us to lose power, regardlesss of the storm strength. This is an emergency, the health and safety of our fellow residents is compromised, and talk of increased communication is not the answer. I firmly believe that economics governs many of the decisions that JCPL, and other utilities make makes regarding service restoration priorities. A predominance of residential homes, limited amount of business customers, as well as an antiquated, high maintenance infrastructure are contributing factors to the delays. The workers are faced with enormous problems, but they are professionals and I have great confidence in their ability to get the job done.

Hey mayor, take a walk around the shore line. The sewage and garbage abound. Oh and by the way that huge generator on your property is not hopstcongs is it.dont lie because i know. Also who is paying to run it.this town is in a shambles and so is your political career!

Sorry, poor people, jcpl has better things to do. Like hook up power to houses with larger electric bills.

In this article (dated 11/7) the Mayor blamed JCP&L for giving inaccurate information. But I don’t see how she’s done any better. For five days following the storm, the Hopatcong public web site had ZERO information about how basic critical resources were being made available (i.e. ice for perishables, garbage pickup, etc.). And even that wasn’t complete or accurate.

Even after promising “better communication,” Mayor Petillo waited another day (11/8) before posting an “update” to the Boro’s web site which consisted of what has been discussed by others at this web site.

The latest update, as of yesterday, is the first public notice (about recycling center and excess household waste disposal), ten days following the storm. Apparently, the household waste disposal company is not making regular pickups, even though DPW says they are (I called them on the phone and asked).

Also, there’s no mention of availability of drinking water (for people with non-functioning wells), and (packaged) ice is only when the county delivers it? There was no ice here for residents as of two days after the storm. Why wasn’t the Mayor on the phone with the county to get residents the Boro’s share of whatever was being distributed?

But now the Boro web site says the next “update” will be on 11/12 (skipping two days). Mayor Petillo stated in this article that she would provide “daily” updates. Where? How much precious laptop power must we consume to find any of them?

The mayor needs to get on the phone and start calling her upper management... JCPL are doin the best they can- linemen just take direction from their bosses... Lets give the linemen some love- focus on administration...

The shelter has BED BUGS!! You can forget it opening on Monday.

Bed Bugs is a serious allegation, has this been confirmed? They could easily hitch a ride home with a student and impact the entire community!! I would hope they are not trying to cover this up and keep it from everyone we have a right to know..

I have not seen a Facebook pages or daily anything from the Mayor.. No information is given. Our town is small enough to get infomation to everyone.

I have heard nothing about bed bugs but that is the reason all donations need to be new

While Mayor Petillo abandoned us (again), there is NO ice or drinking water available at Fire House #3. Also, I’m not sure if many people realize it, but the water tank (filled from the fire hydrant) at the corner of the fire house driveway is NON-potable water.

It appears Sussex County delivered a pickup truck-full of packaged ice ONCE, but there is no more. I asked at the fire house and was directed to the Dunkin Donuts across the street who was giving away bottles of drinking water and giving out crushed ice from their icemaker in the kitchen. Obviously, you can’t fill a large cooler without wiping out their only supply for regular business.

At Shoprite in Succasunna today, they are givng out ONE $5 gift card for ice and/or water from JCP&L. But it’s ONE card per household and not renewable.

There are many of us still without power for almost 12 days, who have lost everything in their refrigerator and freezer, and need ice to keep whatever we have left.

Perhaps if the Mayor, or one of the Councilmen, who haven’t done a single thing to help residents with these critical details (i.e. “emergency management”) could stop being selfish for a minute or two, pick up the phone, and call either the county, state, or Federal emergency management resource to ensure that Hopatcong Boro receives it’s share of these resources that are being distributed in the counties and states around us. Thanks in advance, and I’m sure we’ll remember you at election time.