NEW SCOTLAND – Town hall was closed Monday as crews worked to restore power, phone, and internet service that had been knocked out when a man charged with drunk driving hit a utility pole in front of the building on Friday, April 6.

Jack L. Jeffers, 22, of Voorheesville, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, first offense, according to Trooper Mark J. Cepiel, public information officer for the New York State Police. Jeffers had a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit of 0.08 percent but below 0.18 percent, Cepiel said.

The hit had been a problem in the past, said Douglas LaGrange, the town’s supervisor.  

Last year, according to LaGrange, the pole had been leaning quite a bit into the road. The utility company came out and placed a new pole in the ground, transferring some of the wires from the leaning pole to the new one. The utility company then cut down part of the leaning pole, leaving a portion in the ground with utility wires still attached. The utility wires on the cut pole were running into the town hall.

Crews worked over the weekend to restore power and by Monday it was back on, but there continued to be no phone and no internet service. The town’s IT staff was able to trace the internet issue, LaGrange said, and called Spectrum to reconnect, restoring service by 3 p.m. Monday.

By Tuesday, everything was up and running.