Town keeps cleanup costs low in wake of Oct. 29 Nor’easter

Date: 12/27/2011

Dec. 26, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

EAST LONGMEADOW — The town of East Longmeadow could be in one of the best financial situations in the area following the Oct. 29 snowstorm cleanup.

East Longmeadow Town Accountant Thomas Caliento expressed his pleasure with the town’s ability to keep costs low by utilizing Department of Public Works (DPW) personnel and equipment, rather than turning to independent contractors, to recover from the unprecedented damage.

“We went a different route than other communities and determined early on that the town DPW could start plowing the roads and picking up the fallen debris,” Caliento told Reminder Publications. “The town decided it would be more efficient and cost effective than paying the exorbitant and outrageous costs associated with using FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and state approved vendors.

“The DPW did an outstanding job from top to bottom in managing costs for the town,” he continued.

Some complementary outside contractors were later brought in to cut “hangers” and remove and grind debris.

Caliento, who has been updating the town’s storm related expense projections on a weekly basis, said that as of the week of Dec. 19, the town was on the hook for roughly $800,000 in storm cleanup costs, which will be paid out of the town’s unreserved cash balance.

Overtime pay for police, fire, DPW and other necessary personnel made up approximately $160,000, or 19 percent of the total projected expenditures. An additional $640,000, or 77 percent of the total cost, is due to the use of outside contractors. The remaining 4 percent is chalked up to “incidental costs,” such as supplies and equipment.

By comparison, Longmeadow has accrued more than $10 million in bills related to storm recovery, while Wilbraham Town Administrator Robert Weitz recently told his Board of Selectmen that its expense total surpassed $4 million.

“We’re going to be in excellent shape in comparison when it comes to the amount of cash needed,” Caliento said.

Both neighboring towns are expecting to receive a 75 percent reimbursement of eligible expenses if President Barack Obama issues a disaster declaration. Caliento does not expect the same reimbursement percentage-wise for East Longmeadow, stating he projected a total reimbursement from FEMA and the state of approximately 50 percent.

However, should that be the case, East Longmeadow would still be responsible for a much smaller amount than its neighbors. Longmeadow still expects to spend approximately $2.5 million out of pocket after FEMA reimbursement.

In an absolute best-case scenario, Wilbraham would be eligible for $3 million in reimbursement, but officials do not expect to receive nearly that much. After spending $4.5 million to clean up after the June 1 tornado, Wilbraham was reimbursed $1.9 million from FEMA, or roughly 42 percent of their total cost.