More Than 56,000 Cubic Yards of Storm Debris Collected In Windsor Locks

All told, Windsor Locks cleaned up 56,938 cubic yards of debris from the October 29 snowstorm, a town official told the board of selectmen Tuesday.

Public Works Director Scott Lappen said, while the figures have not been certified by monitor yet, the town and residents collected 31,591 cubic yards, and the private contractor Ash Britt picked up 25,347 cubic yards.

Lappen said Ash Britt reduced the debris to 11,300 cubic yards of debris. About 2,600 cubic yards of mulch was taken to land owned by Kement and Sons in East Windsor.

Townspeople approved spending $1.4 million to remove all of the debris with the understanding that FEMA would reimburse 75 percent of the cost. Ash Britt was paid $1,151,743, the monitoring company received $121,000, public works employees were paid $24,200 in overtime, and workers at the town leaf site were paid $4,700, Lappen said.

“We’re sitting in a pretty good position,” Lappen said.

The town originally allocated $1 million for debris removal, then an additional $400,000 in December. Lappen said there is $127,000 left from the allocation that will be returned to the town.

Additionally, because officials  kept records of all of the town equipment that was used by the contractor, Windsor Locks can be reimbursed on a per hour of use basis for that, Lappen said.

The final tally for the town for the cleanup, after FEMA reimbursements, should be about $187,000, Lappen said.

Selectwoman Denise Balboni said that was good news to hear.

“I didn’t realize we would get reimbursed for use of our equipment,” Balboni said.

First Selectman Steven N. Wawruck Jr. said the monitoring company kept a close watch on how much debris was being collected, and how it was being collected. Even keeping track of which trees were cut down and when, Wawruck said.

“There was no gouging,” Wawruck said.
Lappen said although the debris collection by the contractor and the monitoring company’s work was “a slick operation,” town residents deserve a lot of credit for their work as well.

“When you look at the numbers, the residents were very aggressive,” Lappen said. “They saved the town money.”