Councilors to hear car tales

Jan. 22--Summer Street resident Joel Emerson says he realizes the city of Gloucester may have its hands tied when it comes to giving aid to more than 70 residents who lost their cars to the wintry storm surge that overran the Gloucester High School parking lot on Jan. 4.

He's also relieved that, after eight days of haggling, he and his insurance company reached an agreement for a payout that enabled him to replace the 2015 Subaru Impreza he had bought new -- although the replacement, also an Impreza, is a 2008.

"So I guess this whole fiasco cost me $500 for my deductible, plus a lot of frustration and angst," said Emerson, who works as a teacher at St. John's Prep and commutes daily to its Danvers campus.

Now, he's wondering whether the city might find a way to reimburse him and dozens of others who lost cars parked at Gloucester High at the city's invitation during that week's snow emergency ban for on-street parking -- either for their deductible costs, to perhaps grant an excise tax waiver for the new year, or some other form of relief.

"At least then," he said, "I wouldn't be financially punished for following the city's rules."

Tuesday, the City Council is inviting Emerson and the dozens of others impacted by the parking lot storm surge to come forward and let their city officials know how the storm and its aftermath has affected them.

The public forum will be held at the start of Tuesday's 7 p.m. City Council meeting, as a separate component of the regular time set aside for residents' comments.

"That seemed like an appropriate place for this," Council President Paul Lundberg said.

"If there are people who have issues resulting from the storm -- issues that the city can and should address, this will give them a dedicated time to come and let us know," he said. "If we can do something about them, fine. But, even if it's beyond what the city can do, I want to just get the facts on the table."

'Nobody warned us'

Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and fire Chief Eric Smith, who serves as the city's emergency management director, said the city is still calculating storm damage estimates -- to public and private property such as the Gloucester High cars -- to submit to state emergency management officials in the hopes of securing federal aid. But both have noted that any such aid requires a federal disaster declaration, and, Smith said, the damage threshold is "very high," making any such aid dubious.

"We're doing everything we can," said the mayor, who encouraged local car dealerships to work with residents whose vehicles were rendered useless by the salty flood waters. She said the city is looking into potential grant money, especially given the uniqueness of the damaging surge.

"Nobody warned us -- or could have warned us -- of anything quite like that," she said, noting that an astronomical high tide timed at the height of the storm brought record surges of up to 4 feet across the region. Those conditions were followed by a three-day deep freeze with wind-chill temperatures well below zero.

Councilor James "Jamie" O'Hara said that, while he would like the city to look at providing relief to car owners -- several did not have comprehensive insurance coverage -- the city's first task should be to get a grip on how the incident has affected residents.

He acknowledged that though the city only makes the Gloucester High lot and others available for off-street snow parking -- and doesn't order drivers to park there -- the city should try to help.

"Obviously, the parking lot was dedicated for the purpose of being used for (residential off-street parking) for that day," he said. "And, let's face it, we directed them to that location." The city routinely makes residents aware that all city-owned lots -- including those at its schools -- are available for parking during a snow emergency.

Looking for aid windows

O'Hara said he's asked for a review of the city's general liability policy to see if there are any windows for covering the flooded cars -- "especially under these circumstances," he said.

"But the big thing is just to give people the chance to come out and tell us, tell the administration, how they were impacted," O'Hara said. "Then we can look and see if there's something we can do to help that hasn't been done yet.

"We don't want to tout this is going to be some kind of handout session, because clearly it's not," he added. "But it's important for these people to come out. And then for us to see if there's anyplace we can go to find money to help."

Emerson said he expects to attend.

"I'm sure the city has problems with cash payouts (to private parties)," he said. State law generally prohibits cash distributions by cities and towns to private parties, unless in the case of a legal order.

"But I do think (the city) needs to build some good will," Emerson said, "and I'd be thrilled if somebody would say, "You know that deductible you had to pay? We'll cover it.' Or 'You know that excise bill? Forget it, we'll take care of it.' That would be nice."

Ray Lamont can be reached at 978-675-2705, or [email protected].

If you go

What: Public forum for residents whose cars were destroyed by the storm surge in the Gloucester High School parking during the Jan. 4 storm. Residents are encouraged to make officials aware of how the storm and storm damage affected them, and what issues remain.

When: Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. The storm forum will be an open session at the start of the City Council's regular meeting.

Where: Kyrouz Auditorium, City Hall, 9 Dale Ave.

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