Lynn on standby for snow

LYNN – The season’s first snowstorm is threatening to hit the North Shore, starting late Sunday and lingering through Tuesday.Joseph Sobel, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.com, said the latest forecast showed the storm moving eastward.”It’s going to be farther to the east and farther offshore, lowering the threat of a major snowstorm,” he said.AccuWeather also reported that storm conditions off the New Jersey coast and headed north were likely to create about five inches of snow, but it remained unclear how much of that might accumulate on land.But Emergency officials in the region began making preparations Friday.Public works crews attached plows, checked their truck fluids and were standing by in case sand and salt needs loading.”Our plows are on and ready. The salt and sand is ready and our private snow-plowing contractors are set to go,” said Public Works Commissioner Larry Donahue.The private contractors supplement the city’s fleet of plows in the task of clearing public streets.”Last I heard, the storm could go either way,” Donahue said Friday. “It can drop up to six inches, or up to 12 at worst, depending on whether it stays around or tracks out to sea. If it stays, it may be for a long duration, from Sunday evening into Wednesday.”According to Donahue, flashing blue lights will be remotely activated at seven locations throughout the city if a snow emergency is declared.”We would like to get the cars off the street,” he said. “The blue lights indicate a parking ban is in effect and that no parking is allowed on the street.”If a snow emergency is declared by the Department of Public Works, residents can park in designated school lots, said Parking Department staffer Mary Wright.”Towing and ticketing are separate. You can get ticketed and not necessarily be towed and you can be towed but not necessarily get a ticket first,” she said.She noted that police officers and meter maids will tag vehicles left on the street during a snow emergency.Vehicles violating the emergency ban will be towed to the Ford School Annex parking lot on Bennett Street, across from the GE lot, where they were towed in previous years.Only during snow emergencies, parking for residents without driveways is available in the following school parking lots: Brickett, Callahan, English, Ford, Harrington, Ingalls, Sisson and Tech.Parking is also available at the Ellis Street municipal lot and at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority garage on Market Street for $4 per day.Vehicles left at the school lots must be removed at the conclusion of the snow emergency. If the snow emergency ends after 9 p.m., cars must be removed by 6 a.m. the following day.Police Lt. William Sharpe said the Parking Department and public works officials handle ticketing and towing.”We’re watching the forecast and will coordinate with other city agencies in the event a snow emergency is declared,” he said.School Superintendent Catherine Latham said parents and students are notified of snow emergencies through television and radio news stations.”We depend on radio and TV. Some individual principals will send out a telephone message to all parents, but we have found over the years that the radio and TV stations are a little more dependable,” she said.Latham said the School Department contacts TV stations 4, 5, 7, 25, 56 and WBZ radio 103.Snow emergency information will also be available on the city’s Web site (www.ci.lynn.ma.us), on Comcast channel 3, Verizon channels 28 and 37, radio WESX AM 1230 and radio WBQQ 104.9 FM.In Saugus, sanders and plows at the Department of Public Works yard on Main Street were being readied Friday for the possible storm.Saugus Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato said his crews were gearing up despite the fact the storm might bypass the region.”We might get something, we might not, but either way we have to be ready,” he said.Men loaded sanders in the afternoon and Attubato said he updated his list of outside contract plowers in case th