Longmeadow Storm Cleanup Costs

At the special Select Board meeting on November 10, costs for the tree debris cleanup from the October 29-30 snowstorm were discussed.  Below is a video clip from this meeting during Fire Chief Eric Madison provides Select Board members with an estimate of the cleanup costs.



Below is the summary report written by Eric Madison/ Fire Chief and Chris Reed/ DPW Asst Superintendent....

 

click here to enlarge above summary

The total cost of cleanup is estimated to be ~ $13.2 million of which the town's share after reimbursement by FEMA is expected to be $3.3 million. 

Longmeadow will need to pay the entire cost of $13.2 million upfront and then await reimbursement by FEMA.  Paul Pasterczyk, Longmeadow's Finance Director has done his homework and it appears that the cash flow squeeze can be managed without dramatically affecting the town's operation.  In the video clip shown above Mr. Pasterczyk describes the various financial options available to the town.  Interestingly enough, one approach that would not be approved by the Mass Dept of Revenue is the use of available cash from the new HS project bond.