By Genevieve Jinson, Community Reporter
Northborough – Although the response by National Grid regarding the town's needs ?after Hurricane Sandy was better than its response to the October 2011 storm, there is still room for improvement. That was the consensus of Town Administrator John Coderre and the Board of Selectmen at the board's Nov. 5 meeting.
Selectman Leslie Rutan said she received a number of complaints from residents regarding National Grid's post-hurricane services. ?She said that residents expressed concern that Northborough was one of the last towns to have power restored in the area.
Selectman Dawn Rand also expressed disappointment with National Grid's speed of power restoration. She jokingly requested that the town “secede from National Grid's services.”
Coderre said that in a recent meeting with National Grid he expressed concerns about its communication with the town.
“I think their response was not particularly a bad response where Northborough was concerned,” he said. “It was a matter of communication.”
“These are long-term relationships, and like any long-term relationship, our goal is to provide constructive criticism and improve for the next time. And there will be a next time,” he added.
After the October 2011 storm, the town spent $400,000 in storm prevention by trimming back the branches and trees around wires. Coderre stated the town survived Hurricane Sandy “relatively unscathed” until the main line coming into town was taken out by a tree four feet in circumference.
“For us in this storm, it really came down to that one tree on that one line that had the most impact on the town,” he noted.
The selectmen thanked Coderre and his staff as well as town departments regarding the town's speed of response, cleanup, and town preparations for the storm.
“Just incredible,” said Rutan.
“Everybody did a great job in the town of Northborough,” Rand added.
Coderre also thanked the town departments.
“I couldn's be more proud of our town staff, Police , Fire, DPW, ?folks in my officeÂ… things went perfectly according to plan,” he said.
Regarding the most recent storm, “the communication from us was better I think, than it's ever been,” he added.
