Harrison, Mattice

Given Key To The City

By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

ONEONTA – For their tireless efforts in clearing Oneonta streets and sidewalks during Winter Storm Stella, Mayor Gary Herzig awarded Public Service Superintendent Larry Harrison and City Engineer Greg Mattice each with a Key to the City during Common Council this evening.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the work that DPW and the city engineer did,” said Herzig. “They provided exceptional public service to the people of Oneonta. I’ve had emails, phone calls and letters thanking us for a job well done, but the real congratulations go to the people who’ve worked so hard.”

As Stella raged over Otsego County on Tuesday, March 15, dumping as much as two inches of a snow an hour, Harrison’s crew of 11 worked a 14 hour shift to clear the streets for emergency crews.

But just because they had the plows didn’t mean that Harrison’s crews could get home in the storm. “We had guys sleeping in chairs, on couches and cots, in their trucks,” he said. “They did an outstanding job, well beyond their normal hours of work.”

And through it all, Mattice was in charge of coordinating and communicating between the city and the crews. “We had a lot of help from police and fire, the Mayor and Common Council and others,” said Mattice.

Although the storm has been over a week, the cleanup isn’t done. “There are still a few streets that aren’t completely cleaned,” said Harrison. “We haven’t seen anything like this since when I first started in 2003.”

“We were just doing our job,” said Mattice. “And we’re happy to do it.”