Warming Station to Open at Green Brook Municipal Building

Dear Green Brook Residents,

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your patience, your neighborly spirit and your understanding as we all try to recover from the worst storm to hit New Jersey on record.  Our emergency response personnel have been working around the clock to keep Green Brook safe, which is no small task with so many road closures and no power, so we thank them for all of the hard work that has been ongoing for the past week.   We have put together this list of information, which is long, but hopefully very useful for you.  Now, on to the updates:

Tomorrow the Township will be opening a "Warming and Charging Station" out of our Town Hall at 111 Greenbrook Road (use the detour as listed below to reach Town Hall).  Residents will be welcome to warm-up and charge-up in the court room on the second floor.  The Township will run this service everyday until power is restored to Green Brook from 9am-5pm. We are also looking for volunteers to staff the room.  If you are willing to help, please contact Town Hall (732-968-1023 x6602).  Town Hall, GB Police and GB Fire/EMS building are all without power and internet as well, we have managed to come up with a generator solution for the court room to help our residents.  Town Hall also has working bathrooms and running water.  

Each day Green Brook Township participates in a conference call with PSE&G to get updated information about Green Brook’s numbers as well as the system-wide restoration efforts.  As of this morning (11/1) Green Brook still has 1,853 customers out of service (that number is down from 3070 at the peak of the storm).  We will post updated numbers tomorrow (11/2) as soon as we have them.  The PSE&G tree crews were in Green Brook today and cleared several areas in town. We again stress that any and all downed wires should be considered “live” and very dangerous.  Please do not attempt to do any work on trees on wires or on the wires themselves.

The roads that remain closed are:

• Washington Ave (north of Rt. 22)
• Washington Ave (south of Rt. 22 at the Dunellen border)
• Warrenville Road (north of Rt. 22)
• Warrenville Road (south of Rt. 22 at the Middlesex border)
• N. Mountain Ave/Morning Glory Rd. (north of Rt. 22)
• Greenbrook Road (in front of the Police Headquarters and Town Hall, to get around it please use the Gold, Tuttle and Andrew Streets to Park Avenue and vice versa)
• Greenbrook Road (between Mountain Parkway and Seabrings Mills)
• Mountain Parkway (to/from Greenbrook Rd)
• Rock Road East (both directions)
• Jefferson Avenue (north of Rt. 22)

The Rock Avenue jughandle is the only turn around for Route 22 in the Township.  The other judhandles that are operational are Somerset Street in North Plainfield andMountain Avenue in Bridgewater/Bound Brook.  We do not have any estimates as to when the north/south travel will be restored to the Township.

The following shelter information is provided:

• Woodbridge Community Center 600 Main Street Woodbridge, NJ
• Stonecrest 11 Technology Drive Warren, NJ
• Bernardsville High School - 25 Olcott Street, Bernardsville, NJ

At this time, you must provide your own transportation to these shelters.

Gasoline remains in short supply and we urge conservation. While we cannot confirm which gas stations are open, people are utilizing social media and stations for guidance. On Twitter, try #njgas  or #njopen. Radio Station NJ101.5 is providing info as available. The Star Ledger has a live blog giving out gas station information at: http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2012/11/somerset_county_open_gas_stati.html

The  Bridgewater Library, 1 Vogt Dr., Bridgewater 08807 was open today from 10am-4 p.m with limited services. Please call (908) 526-4016 to confirm whether they are open on 11/2/12.

Free water and ice for residents of the County without power will be handed out, first-come, first-serve at Somerset County Emergency Services Training Academy, Roycefield Road, Hillsborough 8am-8pm starting on Nov. 1.  Supplies are donated by JCP&L.

Fire Officials Warn: Please remember to turn off appliances & devices that become energized when the power is restored and become a fire hazard, especially you are leaving your home.

The Governor has signed an Executive Order to Secure Water Supplies Across New Jersey in Wake of Hurricane Sandy.  The DEP issued a subsequent Administrative Order which gives the following restrictions, prohibitions and exemptions:

• All indoor water use, including showers, baths and domestic cleaning, must be conducted with minimum amounts of water;
• Non-essential outdoor water use is prohibited;
• Watering of grass, lawns and landscapes is prohibited except for newly sodded or seeded areas done by professional landscapers or immediately following a commercial application of fertilizer, pesticide or herbicides; minimum amount of water should be used during these applications;
• Use of water for washing paved surfaces, such as streets, sidewalks, driveways, garages, parking lots and patios is prohibited;
• Outdoor use of water for ornamental or aesthetic purposes, including fountains, artificial waterfalls, and reflecting pools is prohibited, except to preserve or support wildlife
• Use of water for power washing of buildings is prohibited except for commercial enterprises engaged in power washing, and with minimum water use;
• Car and truck washing, except for emergency vehicles, is prohibited;
• Serving of water in restaurants, clubs, or other eating establishments is prohibited unless specifically requested by patrons.

Go to this link for the entire Executive Order: http://readynj.posterous.com/167294013

For information on filing insurance claims after the storm: http://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/552012/approved/20121031l.html

We will continue to compile information for Green Brook residents as we can and will provide daily updates on the progress of Township restoration.  We are a strong community and will pull through this difficult time together.  Please share this information with your neighbors and friends!