Picking Up The Debris

Windsor Locks officials will ask residents at a November 22 town meeting to approve a proposal to remove debris caused by the October 29 storm.

During a joint meeting Tuesday, the boards of finance and selectmen decided to recommend a proposal to hire a state-approved contractor to remove an estimated 39,000 cubic yards of debris. The estimated cost is $1 million, 75 percent of which is reimbursable from FEMA, officials said.

Cornelius O’Leary, chairman of the board of finance, said the special joint meeting was held to compress the time for approval of the proposal. O’Leary said time is of the essence because of oncoming snow in the next few weeks and the effectiveness of plowing town streets with debris on the side of the road.

Public Works Director Scott Lappen said his crews have been working from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and hours on Saturday to remove debris.  Lappen said on November 7 he rode around town with FEMA representatives and estimated there was about 42,000 cubic yards of debris in the community.

Since then officials have seen an increase in debris of about 50 percent, bringing the estimate to about 63,000 cubic yards, Lappen said.

“That’s the best we can estimate right now,” Lappen said.

Between what public works crews have collected and residents have brought to the town leaf area, an estimated 24,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed, Lappen said.

Lappen presented four options to the boards Tuesday. The first would be town crews and equipment with overtime and would take 10-12 weeks to complete, weather permitting.

The second would be to use town crews and rent additional trucks and loaders with grapple hooks. It would take four to six weeks and cost an additional $100,000.

The third would be to use the state approved contractor, Ash Britt, but limit the contract to $500,000, and have town crews clean up what’s left. It would take four to five weeks to complete.

The fourth option, which is being endorsed by both boards, is to use Ash Britt to free up town crews and would take about four weeks to complete. The cost is about $1 million, with 75 percent reimbursement from FEMA, the eventual cost to the town would be $250,000. Part of the cost is for monitoring firm that watches over the collection and disposal of the debris, officials said

Town Finance Director Barbara Bertrand said the $1 million would come from the town’s reserve funds. FEMA would reimburse $750,000.

Selectman Joseph Calsetta although the snow’s gone and everyone’s power has been restored, the disaster is continuing.

“I don’t think we can pussyfoot around or pinch pennies,” Calsetta said. “We’ve got to get it done.”

First Selectman Steven N. Wawruck Jr. said the town will have to get another estimate of how much debris there is because many residents were concentrating on their power situation and hadn’t put our their debris when FEMA officials toured the town.

“We’ve been in constant contact with FEMA,” Wawruck said. “We will urge them to come back and reassess the damage.”