Although winter storms pack a wallop on residents and budgets alike, local town and county officials say they are prepared for the worst.
On the heels of an ice storm that struck Thursday, Dec. 11, Albany County was hit with several inches of snow the weekend of Friday, Dec. 19. The effects of the ice storm subsided only days before the snow cascaded down.
In the wake of those storms, the towns of Bethlehem and Guilderland are both paying for police and highway overtime, as well as debris removal and roadway clearing and maintenance.
But it’s nothing that wasn’t expected.
We’ve got the highway and police overtime to pay from January 2008 until now, said Bethlehem Supervisor Jack Cunningham. `Running out of salt was an issue last year because there was a shortage, but I haven’t heard it was an issue this year.`
Cunningham said the scarcity of salt last year caused the price to rise, but the problem then was not actually having enough to make it through the winter. Towns lock into prices for salt through state contracts, according to Cunningham.
`Even though we’ve been hit hard we plan for these kinds of storms,` said Cunningham. As for remaining within the highway and police budgets for the year, Cunningham said, `I think we’re pretty close.`
Guilderland Highway Superintendent Todd Gifford said department employees racked up an average of 20 hours overtime for Friday, Dec. 19, through Sunday, Dec. 21, cleaning up after the storm.
There are 38 employees in the highway department.
`The winds continue to howl,` Gifford said as clean-up efforts lingered. There were still three or four town vehicles on the road on Monday, Dec. 22, cleaning up the after effects.
He said the department allots for 100 hours of overtime each year, and it is just about at that threshold.
`We’re backed up quite a few hours,` Gifford said.
However, funding begins anew on Thursday, Jan. 1, and the rest of the financial effects of the winter weather will come out of the 2009 budgets.
Guilderland Supervisor Ken Runion also said the town was well prepared for the snow.
`We anticipate a number of storms. We anticipate overtime,` said Runion.
Albany County Department of Public Works Commissioner Michael Franchini added that the county has performed a sizable number of snow and ice operations since Dec. 11. It handles 290 county roads and the 114 state roads that it is contracted to clean for the Department of Transportation. However, he said, they have not reached their budgeted cap on overtime.
Officials also noted that President George Bush declared New York in a state of emergency, making it eligible for federal funds to helped pay for the damage resulting from the Dec. 11 ice storm that left many people without power.
Gov. David Paterson thanked the president for the declaration on Friday, Dec. 19, and requested funding to help the hardest hit municipalities get through the difficult situation.
`I would like to thank President Bush for issuing an emergency declaration to New York state for last week’s ice storm. But we’re only halfway there,` Paterson said in a written statement. `Now I ask him to give us the assistance I specifically requested: Reimbursement to the 16 counties and local governments for the costs incurred in protecting the lives and property of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who suffered personal hardship in this ordeal.`
Capt. John Layton, the Albany County Sheriff’s commander of the critical incident emergency management unit, said his department is helping coordinate efforts between local municipalities and the federal government.
`We are working with the states’ emergency management office,` Layton said. `We have reached out to the local municipalities to coordinate with FEMA.`
Layton said only specific expenses will apply, such as debris removal and response efforts by local police and fire and highway departments, and that eligible local municipalities could get up to 75 percent of their costs reimbursed from the ice storm.
`They’ll [municipalities] set up points of contact with FEMA through us, and then send them the paperwork directly,` Layton said. `We found it to be the best way over the years to streamline the process.`
There are 16 counties in New York, including Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga counties, which are eligible for FEMA funding. Layton said the last major emergency disaster eligible for FEMA was the April flooding in 2007 that was extensive around the state.
`We’re very lucky to be eligible for this federal funding,` Layton said. `Especially during these times of economic crisis.`
Dan Sabbitino contributed to this story.
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