Bernardsville Power Restorations Awaited on Monday

Mayor is told power company will work 'through the night' to complete restoration, but he doubts Sunday midnight goal will be met.

The number of Bernardsville households left without power was down to about 227 out of 3,500 JCP&L customers on Sunday evening, but Borough Mayor Lee Honecker said that, two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, he considers that number unacceptable. Monday update On Monday at about 10:30 a.m., the JCP&L website said that 148 Bernardsville customers remained without power, as were 83 customers in Bedminster. Honecker said he drove around the borough prior to Sunday's 4 p.m. conference call with Jersey Central Power and Light and found that the Twin Lakes area, including Hillside Avenue, Lakeview Drive and other nearby streets appeared untouched by restoration efforts. Although he said that some crews had been spotted around Round Top Road and the …

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Outages Expected to be Restored This Weekend, Locals Still in the Dark

Officials in Bernardsville and Bernards Township said they have had difficulty finding out when and where restoration is happening.

Jersey Central Power & Light announced on Friday that additional professionals and utility workers arriving in the state will return service by Saturday evening to the majority of customers who do not have power, including those who may have experienced new outages as a result of Wednesday's storm. The announcement added that 168,000 customers within the state remained without power on Friday, even as about 100,000 had their power restored on Thursday. Local officials said they lack information In Bernards Township and Bernardsville, officials say they were frustrated by lack of specific information regarding power restoration. "They can give us no specific information," Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine said at about 4:30 p.m. on…

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Bramnick: Set Up Emergency Procedure For Wire Removals

State assemblyman said he is seeking way in which wires still left since Sandy can be removed in cases of emergency.

New Jersey Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-District 21) said following a meeting in Bernards Township on Thursday that he is seeking to have the state Board of Public Utilities set up a procedure in which wires still left since Hurricane Sandy can be removed by more local officials in emergency situations. Major roads, including sections of South Finley Avenue and South Maple Avenue still were blocked as a result of downed wires mid-day on Thursday, even after local road crews had removed trees where possible without disturbing the wires. As it stands now, only the power company can test and remove the wires. Bramnick said that one of the major issues that he and state Sen. Tom Kean (R-District 21) are working on right now is whether that …

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Bernardsville Told to Expect 100% Power, Far Hills 80% By Weekend

Despite continuing outages, progress promised through remainder of the week.

Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker said at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday that JCP&L is saying that about 65 percent of borough customers had restored power as of that time, although pockets of areas continued to remain in the black. But he said that the power company had said that 100 percent of the borough would be fully restored by this Saturday or Sunday. He said he has been trying to work in cooperation with the power company. "You have to keep them in our town," he said. The mayor said he hopes that Wednesday night's predicted storm does not undo progress that has been made. Meanwhile, in neighboring Far Hills Borough, where some residents have been fearful that power restoration could take weeks, Far Hills Police Chief Ken Hartman said …

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Power Returns to Bernardsville; Voting at Bernards High

Somerset Hills schools closed Tuesday. All districts to vote at Bernards High, which also remains open as a regional shelter.

Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker said the downtown section of the borough, including the Bernardsville Public Library, has power back on as of Monday, and the numbers are expected to climb for the next few days. However, no Somerset schools had power back as on Monday, and school will remain closed on Tuesday, said Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine. "It's really a safety issue," especially given condition of roads, he said. Moreover, he said that schools must wait 24 hours after regaining power to test systems and prepare for the reopening. Honecker said that an estimated 400 were initially logged as having power returned. The area with power includes the "Little Italy" section near Bernards Avenue. Meanwhile, Honecker said all …

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Families Waiting for Wire Removals in Bernardsville, Bernards

Borough completely without power, dozens of homes blocked by downed wires, mayor says. Bernards also has some blocked homes.

Bernardsville Borough remained 100 percent without power as of about noon Saturday, and dozens of families were trapped behind trees entangled with power lines and electrical equipment that had not been removed or cleared for removal, by Jersey Central Power & Light, local officials said. "We are falling through the cracks," Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker said at about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Honecker and others said that all of the borough remained without power at that time. Reports are that power may not be returned for another week, and that Somerset Hills schools will be closed on Monday. JCP&L spokesman says company is working on wire removals JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said at about 3 p.m. Saturday that that the company is in …

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Destruction, Power Outages Throughout Basking Ridge, Bernardsville

Both towns virtually without power as trees, power lines down on streets, local properties.

Emergency workers were asking residents in both Basking Ridge and Bernardsville to stay away from downed trees, broken utility poles and other remnants from a major windstorm brought overnight by Sandy. Officials said they believed virtually everyone in both communities were without power. However, no injuries were reported in either town as a result of the storm, although the Basking Ridge Fire Co. had to rescue residents from their bed when a tree crashed through the roof into their bedrooms, said Assistant Chief Nick Ierubino. That home was on Allen Street in northern Basking Ridge, said Bernards Police Lt. Mike Shimsky, also the township's coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management. "There was all kinds of chaos last night," …

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New Crosswalks Finished in Downtown Bernardsville

Asphalt was used to replace synthetic brick that had crumbled in area around Olcott Square.

With the final striping finished on Wednesday, work is complete on the replacement of 13 crosswalks in downtown Bernardsville that were installed about four years ago as part of a project to spruce up the area around Olcott Square. The walkways, lampposts with flowers, curbing and other improvements are still in place. However, the synthetic brick crosswalks, including many along Route 202, had crumbled, said John Macdowall, the borough's public works director. Work began about two weeks ago to mill out the old material and install asphalt instead, Macdowall said. "We did the striping last night," he said on Thursday. Macdowall said the same type of crosswalks installed in other towns also had deteriorated. "The product doesn't seem to …

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Visions for Vacancies

Bernardsville Landmark Building Awaits New Occupant

56 Degrees Wine Shop's former address at 40 Quimby Lane is for sale.

The Bernardsville building that until recently housed 56 Degrees Wine Shop is a local landmark — and is awaiting the next chapter in its history. With a classic brick face that fronts on Quimby Lane, the 1928 structure is being marketed as a commercial property. The address at 40-42 Quimby Lane is across from the Bernardsville post office. The commercial space vacated by 56 Degrees — which moved around the corner to a larger shop at 25 Claremont Road — has brick floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. According to Trulia.com, the building is 2,500 square feet in size. So what would you like to see move in to replace the wine shop? Perhaps a retail store? With art galleries springing up around Bernardsville, do you think this would be a …

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