Federal Aid Process Continues in Wake of Storms

In the wake of tropical storm Irene and winter storm Albert, Simsbury town officials are still working on obtaining federal reimbursement for money spent on repairs and cleanup.

Public Works Director Tom Roy held up a thick binder during Monday night's board of selectmen meeting that contained application materials for financial assistance from FEMA for tropical storm Irene and explained that the process for winter storm Alfred included several boxes of materials.

Roy said the town spent $57,000 on equipment, labor, and supplies after tropical storm Irene. The town will receive approximately $43,000 in total reimbursement from FEMA and has already received the first two allottments totaling $39,684.

Grant money from FEMA is broken up into project categories and the funding is disbursed according to the project approval.

"Generally speaking in terms of tropical storm Irene we basically got everything we thought we were going to get," Roy said.

Roy said the application process for winter storm Albert has been much more complicated than tropical storm Irene.

"I wouldn't expect to see any reimbursements for that storm during this fiscal year," Roy said.

The town spent approximately $4 million after winter storm Albert with $3.6 million spent on debris cleanup. The cleanup cost included payments to contractors to remove and grind the debris.

A change in federal policy after the winter storm made the state of Connecticut eligible for grant funding from the Federal Highway Administration funding and presented a new challenge for the town. Roy said 18.7 percent of the 164 miles of town-maintained roads are eligible for the funding and the new federal guidelines will prevent the town from using FEMA money for those roads.

"The good news is, as soon as that information came to us we applied and we have a preliminary grant submission in through FHWA that's administered through the Connecticut Department of Transportation," Roy said.

The FHWA grant also requires that the town pay contractors prevailing wage rates or by union scale.

"Clearly since we had all of our cleanup done in December it's a little difficult to go back and correct that problem," Roy said. Department of Transportation officials feel that the town has a compelling case for FHWA to make an acception.

Once the town is approved for grants from FEMA and FHWA Roy expects to see approximately 75 percent of the $4 million spent after the storm.