Partial Payment Of $75K Arrives For Tropical Storm Irene Expenses

It's a long wait, one to two years, for the town to get reimbursed for its expenses during last year's Tropical Storm Irene, but like Christmas, it's coming.

In just a month (August 28) it will be one year since Irene hit the town of Clinton and most of the Eastern seaboard.

Cleanup efforts after the storm cost, to date, $1.3 million.

As the Director of Public Works Peter Neff explained, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires that the town meet certain requirements in order to be eligible for reimbursement. The town engaged the services of the Maguire Group to monitor the recovery efforts from Irene and to assure that the town met all the FEMA requirements in order to receive funds to help offset the recovery effort.

"The most significant costs were the removal, reduction and disposal of green vegetative matter (trees, brush, leaves, etc.)," said Neff.

Removed were 25,626 cubic yards of green waste; 81 trees, 2,259 hanging branches from trees; and 27 tree stumps.

The cost to clean up the town in the 24 to 48 hours following the storm including overtime, emergency tree service and emergency debris removal was about $56,000. To make repairs to town facilities and infrastructure, the costs were about $79,000. This included repairs to the town docks, ramps, bulkheads, harbors, walkways, gazebo, bridges and roads. For the removal of debris (organic such as trees and limbs not building materials) the costs were about $460,000.

FEMA reimburses municipalities about 75 percent spent on clean up and other approved expenses. To date, $1.42 million has been approved by FEMA. Of that, the town is owed $1.07 million. The state takes 25 percent of what is given to the town.

There are several projects still in the works, said Neff, including the Beach Park Road culvert, the town beach gazebo structure, some smaller projects and some consulting work.

All in all, the town spent $348,575 on Tropical Storm Irene cleanup. That money is not reimbursable.