Debris Cleanup to Cost Granby Twice as Much as Expected

The cleanup of the late October snowstorm is going to cost Granby double what was initially estimated, town officials revealed at the regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Monday evening.

The initial estimates provided by two state-approved contractors of the amount of debris caused by the October Nor’easter that felled branches and trees came in at about 35,000 cubic yards, according to Town Manager William Smith.

Thus far, the town has cleared about 70,868 cubic yards of material as of Monday evening, according to Department of Public Works Director James Klase, while about 8,000 to 10,000 cubic yards of material “is still out there.”

“Most of the towns are in the same predicament with doubling of the cost estimates,” Smith said. “I don’t know if its Granby, New England or the region that has caused this.”

The estimates were based on five cubic yards of material per household, according to Klase, which would have put Granby at about 22,000 cubic yards of material. An additional 13,000 cubic yards was added as a cushion, Klase said, and even then the estimate was wildly on the low side.

The town contracted with Phillips & Jordan to remove the debris, though it will cost the town far more than initially anticipated.

Toward that end, the Selectmen unanimously rescinded a resolution that approved a $1 million expenditure — about $250,000 of which the town would have been responsible for after reimbursement from the Federal Emergencu Management Agency — for the cleanup of debris caused by heavy snowfall that resulted in felled branches and trees all over the region.

In its stead, the Selectmen passed a resolution approving a $2 million expenditure — $500,000, or 25 percent, of which the town would have to cover after FEMA reimbursement — that must be reviewed by the Board of Finance on Dec. 12 and approved by residents at a Town Meeting on Dec. 19.

A Town Meeting was not required for the initial $1 million expenditure because the town’s $250,000 contribution did not meet the threshold necessitating one. The proposed $500,000 contribution requires approval by residents, however, according to Smith.

When they first came to town, Phillips and Jordan’s initial estimates of the amount of debris being cleared appeared to be on target, Klase said.

“What happened over Thanksgiving was, in areas that we already started working on, we saw an influx of far more than the initial amount of debris,” Klase said. “Residents hired their own tree removal companies who put the brush by the curb, and that caused our estimates to be pretty far removed from what was originally out there.”

The contractor is no longer in town, according to Smith. Residents had until Dec. 5 to put their debris on the roadside. The town’s DPW or a subcontractor will pick up debris by special call, Klase said.

Smith said that residents are encouraged to haul their debris to the town’s transfer station, where the fee for brush drop off will be waived for the remainder of the month of December.  The transfer station will be open on Wednesdays and Saturdays to accommodate residents, Smith said.

Outside of the additional expenditure, town officials were pleased with how the cleanup has gone.

“I’ve got nothing but compliments as to the process and the cleanup that’s been done on the roadside,” First Selectman John Adams said.

There were several private contractors who told residents, improperly, that they could have trees cut down and have them hauled away by town’s contractor and have it subject to FEMA reimbursement, Klase said.

This was not correct, as FEMA was only concerned with limbs and trees that were brought down by the natural event, not cut down by people, which caused Phillips & Jordan to hesitate to haul away some of the debris, Klase said.

Klase said that several contractors were told that if they continued to make that representation that they would be ushered out of town.