Clarkstown Police Generator Repair Almost Complete

Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to the Clarkstown Police Department and then shortly afterwards its 20-year-old generator stopped working. Power was restored but the town brought in a rented generator immediately as backup. Public Works Administrator Ed Lettre said the generator rented by the town for police department costs $100 per day or about $13,000 so far, a cost FEMA is expected to cover. 

On Thursday, Lettre said the generator would probably remain in front of police headquarters for another one or two weeks. He said the police department’s generator has been rebuilt at a cost of $50,000 including a new diesel engine and that work is almost complete.

“Within the next few days, we’re going to give it a final test run,” he said. 

Lettre said it was absolutely necessary for the police department to have a working generator so town officials decided to rent a generator. 

“You have to have redundancy with a building like that,” said Lettre. 

Town Supervisor Alex Gromack said the town has applied for FEMA funds to cover the cost of both the generator rental and repair. The generator was rented from Goosetown Communications of Congers.

“FEMA is certainly going to reimburse us for expenses related to Hurricane Sandy,” Gromack said.

In the future, Lettre said a second new generator might be added. Gromack appointed a task force to study Clarkstown’s emergency equipment needs including generators for town hall, police headquarters and community centers.

In addition to being two decades old, Lettre said the generator did not have enough power to supply all of the police department’s needs. He noted the demand for electricity increased significantly with 911 and computers. Lettre said the rebuilt generator with 300 kilowatts could take care of the essential needs of police headquarters including the communications room and 911 systems but cannot power everything. A brand new generator in the 500-kilowatt range would power all the communications systems, elevator and air conditioning.

Lettre said a second smaller generator was provided free of charge to the department as a precaution.  If a brand new larger generator is purchased, he said the police department would keep the rebuilt generator as a redundant backup power source. Lettre expected town procedure in the future will require running all generators at full load to make they sure they are operating properly at least once or twice a year.