WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said this morning that cleanup work following the Oct. 29 storm will remain a local function.
The city had considered the option of bringing in a large tree service company to take the lead role in the debris removal effort, expected to take weeks.
The city called a halt Tuesday to clean-up work by local tree services while that option was weighed, a decision that set off a loud protest by the local contractors, who had hired additional crews and committed resources to the debris removal work.
However, the city is now backing away from that option, after a meeting in Springfield where officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) briefed representatives of area municipalities about reimbursement policies for funds expended in the disaster recovery.
“We had a FEMA meeting to go over the ground rules (for reimbursement),” Knapik said.
“During the first 70 hours after a (presidential) declaration of emergency, communities get 75 percent reimbursement with very little documentation,” Knapik said. “However, after that 70 hour limit, you need extensive documentation required by FEMA.”
Knapik said that the city, in addition to hiring a national tree service company, would also have to hire a firm to monitor the activity of the national tree service, to determine what percentage of the debris removal work qualified for reimbursement under the FEMA guidelines. The national contractor would also have to weigh each truck loaded with debris, as part of that reporting process.
Much of the debris being collected by the city is from private property, and would not necessarily qualify under the FEMA reimbursement policy.
“The reporting requirements are so onerous that we would not be able to do them ourselves, based upon our experience with the (June 1) tornado reporting requirements,” Knapik said. “We did a citywide assessment. We’re about 50 percent cleaned up, so we decided to keep doing the clean-up work with local assets and look for state financial assistance.”
“All we asked for was a temporary halt, a breather, to allow us to assess the progress and to evaluate our options,” he said.
Knapik said the Twiss Street compost area will be closed Friday for Veterans’ Day observance, but will be open again this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., for residents who have the capability to transport debris.
According to Southwick DPW Director Jeff Neece, on the town’s website, the Southwick transfer station will be open today until 4:20 p.m. to accept storm debris and regular household trash, and it will be open tomorrow from 8:00 a.m. until 4:20 p.m., and normal operating hours on Saturday. The Southwick transfer station will be closed on Sunday.
