Residents Complain About Sandy, LIPA to Village Board

Residents gathered in front of the Farmingdale Village Board during a public meeting on Nov. 5 to share their concerns regarding Hurricane Sandy clean up and LIPA.

One Arthur Street resident said her family is now living in their car after being told her that her house was uninhabitable due to live wires on her property, extensive damage to her exterior and eight days without heat.

"I have a very expensive log cabin," she said, stating that her home is now the same temperature inside as it is outside. 

"We've got a real issue and who is to say how many storms we're getting next year or the year after? I really think we have to be proactive when it comes to this," she said.

Resident Olga Romano said her requests to LIPA to turn back on power in the village have gone unanswered.

"I've made umpteen calls to LIPA…We're sick and tired," she said.

Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said he is doing his best to remedy the situation and has been getting assistance in contacting LIPA from other government officials.

"All we can do is request LIPA we unfortunately can't force them to do anything….I'm not a fan of LIPA but unfortunately all we can do is ask, beg, prod, be a noisy wheel, be a disgruntled wheel and get other officials like myself to call and complain," he said.

"They're not listening to the poor humble Mayor. They're not listening to the poor humble State Senator. They're doing the best they can," he said.

Adminstrator Brian Harty announced during the meeting that the board made a request to LIPA COO Michael Hervey Monday to bring as many crews as possible to Farmingdale.

"We are ready to be repaired and fixed and everybody put back on line right now," he said. 

"It's a matter of getting down to the homeowner level to make sure that all of those lights are turned on."

The Village Board announced they would research creating an ordinance to require village residents to maintain or remove problematic trees in both the back and front yards in case of future similar circumstances to Sandy.

Requests to put the town's electrical wires underground were denied as Mayor Ekstrand said it would cost an estimated $1 million for every three blocks to complete the project.

Despite complaints, residents praised Farmingdale Village Department of Public Works for their efforts during the storm.

"They did a great job of cleaning up. A wonderful job. We had major branches out there and if we had waited for LIPA to clean up they would still be sitting there…I give them credit," said Romano.

Trustee Thomas Ryan spoke optimistically to concerned residents during the meeting.

"It's a crisis. It's tremendous. But as bad as it is here, there are villages that were hit worse," he said.