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Village Council Shows Appreciation

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From left to right: Dustin Davis, Leslie Owens, Matt Dorr, Chris Kleinow, President Kemner (front center), Mark Carpenter, Chief Cuevas, Riley Schlegel, Caleb Schlegel. Photo submitted.
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By Village of Clinton Staff
On behalf of the Clinton Village Council, President Doris Kemner presented Certificates of Appreciation to recognize the dedicated service of the employees that helped during the power outage and restoration after last week’s storm.  President Kemner stated, “That was one of the worst storms we have had in years.” The storm caused several isolated power outages within the community and ultimately caused the Village to lose all power when the storm took out the two Detroit Edison lines providing power to the community.  Village Manager, Kevin Cornish, said “There were several trees that fell across streets and knocked down or damaged utility poles.  The Village sought mutual aid from the City of Hillsdale to help restore power more timely. That was the first time the Village needed mutual aid since the mid 1990’s.” 
According to Mark Carpenter, Electric Superintendent, “The electric department employees had to triage the damage to prioritize the repairs.  The employees isolated or deenergized down wires then systematically started making repairs to the system. The City of Hillsdale crew worked on rebuilding the down pole on Washington Street and Michigan Avenue, while the Village crew replaced the down pole on Tecumseh Road at the Middle School.” Carpenter explained the employees worked long hours to restore power to residents. He said that, “The Village would have only lost power to a small percentage of the commuacsystem. Cornish advised, “After the Village electric crew completed work in the Village, they responded to Lansing for four days to help restore power for those residents.”
Leslie Owens, Office Manager and Village Clerk, said, “It’s all hands on deck during these storms.” She explained the office staff helped answer residents’ questions at the office while she posted updates on social media. Cornish and Owens drove down every street in town to list problem areas for the electric department to repair and lined up supplies and food for the crews who worked extended hours.  The Police Department helped secure the scene of down wires or closed off streets blocked by down trees and facilitated traffic flow on Michigan Avenue. The Wastewater Treatment Plant staff responded to the plant during the storm to make sure the plant was operating properly. It can sometimes take several weeks to get the plant back to peak operation after a bad storm.  The DPW helped clear the streets and set up backup generators at the well and water tower to insure the continued flow of water for the community. After the storm, they actively picked up trees, branches and brush; often spending up to four weeks to clean up town.
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