City looks to help with car losses
While saying the city is hoping to provide help with towing and storage costs, Mayor
"No financial reimbursements from the city are being given," said
That exploration includes talks with state emergency officials, who are compiling damage estimates from
Not just a
That route is also being explored in the town of
While acknowledging that residents who park their do so at their own risk -- as is the case in
"We inquired of our (insurance) carrier to see if there was any relief (covered in the town's policy), and they respectfully declined," Federspiel said. "It's frustrating when people do the right thing and then get hurt by it. We could get relief for them if we can get a disaster declaration, but I'm not sure the damage will reach that."
Essex Town Administrator
Officials in the
Limits on what city can do
Sicuranza said that, for
"Tally's (Towing) happens to also own a salvage yard, and the city is providing assistance to mitigate costs and strike tickets and towing fees where possible," Sicuranza said. Beyond that, the city's hands are relatively tied in terms of offering direct help.
State law limits cities and towns as to what type of financial help they can provide for private property owners --whether for car or home. In these cases, the city is not liable for damage to the vehicles since motorists choose their snow ban parking areas at their own risk, Sicuranza said.
The mayor's office has reached out to a number of area car dealers and largely "encouraged them" to work with flooding victims, Sicuranza said. But, the city, after checking with the state's
Car dealers step up
In her Facebook post, the mayor noted that four area dealers responded favorably and have agreed to at least work with the
Emilio LoCiento, general sales manager with the
"One person had just purchased a car two weeks prior to this," LoCientto said. "She reached out to us, told us what happened, and we worked to make it right for her."
"We're trying to help on a case-by-case basis, depending on what the people were driving, what their situation is, but our business is really big on the community, and we want to try to help."
A waiting game for fields
While scrambling to deal with the damaged autos, Public Works Director
Hale said that, despite "coming close," storm surge water did not get into the high school itself, which Superintendent
Officials are waiting for the snow and ice to clear the fields before confirming any damage, Hale said.
"For all that did happen, the direction of the wind from this storm (out of the northwest instead of the northeast) saved us from what could have been a lot more coastal damage," Hale said. "It was very bad, but there was that silver lining -- it could have been a lot worse.'
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