Board Of Finance Approves $1.45 Million For Tropical Storm Irene

At a Special Meeting of the Board of Finance held January 9, the six regular members of the board approved allocating $1,451,759.27 from the town's undesignated surplus fund and sending the request to a town meeting.

The $1.45 million represents the amount of money the town spent on Tropical Storm Irene. 

The date for the town meeting has not yet been decided. Look to Patch for details.

The vote to approve was unanimous by members Bradford Sullivan (chair), Stephen Lillquist, Dennis Donovan, Ona Nejdl, Patricia Ames and Thomas Hollinger.

On December 28, the Board of Finance (with the exception of Selectman Carol Walter who abstained from voting) approved the request.

As Director of Public Works Peter Neff explained, the costs to the town in the aftermath of the August 28 Tropical Storm Irene totalled $1.45 million. Of that amount, approximately $1.02 million is reimbursable to the town by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

All costs have already been paid by the town with the exception of a handful of items that need to wait for warm weather.

The removal of trees, stumps and branches was the big-ticket item, explained Neff.

"The amount of brush equalled three footballs fields piled six feet high," he said.

In order to receive the proper reimbursement from FEMA, the town had to adhere to strict guidelines regarding the bidding and awarding, monitoring and organization of the work.

"You are welcome to view the volumes of paperwork in my office," said Neff to the board.

Although they had earmarked $532,000 for the cleanup costs, the board approved the $1.45 million after hearing Neff's presentation.

The request now goes to the public at a town meeting.