Snowstorm cleanup cost surpass $4 million

Date: 12/5/2011

Dec. 5, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

WILBRAHAM — The Oct. 29 snowstorm has proven to be almost as costly for the town of Wilbraham as the June 1 tornado.

The town’s total bill for cleanup after the strong October snowstorm that struck the Northeast has surpassed $4 million, according to Town Administrator Robert Weitz.

Cleanup costs for the tornado totaled $4.5 million.

“In some ways it has been more expensive,” Weitz said. “We spent $4.5 after the tornado, but about of million of that was clearing waterways, which is also cleanup, but not the same kind most think about with these extreme kinds of storms.”

Weitz told Reminder Publications that the majority of that total can be attributed to the town’s contract with AshBritt Disaster Recovery and Special Environmental Services.

“We had to remove the debris from the treebelts and we also had some hangers, branches that were hanging dangerously, that we had to cut, so that was where most of that cost comes from,” he said.

Weitz said the town may be able to recover up to 75 percent of that cost, but there is no timeline for that as of yet.

“There hasn’t even been a presidential disaster declaration,” he said. “If that happens, we should be able to be reimbursed by FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency].”