Removal Of Storm Damaged Tree Stumps In Progress

Hurricane Sandy left a slew of damaged tree stumps in its wake. The tree and brush cleanup after the storm was followed by winter weather requiring plowing and treating roads so the town highway department is just getting around to dealing with tree stumps.  

Officials took FEMA representatives around the town to show them tree stumps to evaluate for possible reimbursement. Highway Superintendent Wayne Ballard told the town board at Tuesday’s workshop that work had just begun to remove the 91 displaced tree stumps, which the federal government determined met its criteria. The federal government will reimburse the town $86,785. Ballard said the work began Monday and should be completed within three weeks.  

In addition to the 91 tree stumps, Ballard said 70 residents called the department seeking assistance in clearing tree stumps on their property. The town is responsible for those located within the first 10 feet known as the right of way. Ballard asked the town board for direction on how to handle the requests which ranged from grinding down the stumps to removing them and seeding the area and planting a new tree.   

“We need to make decisions so it’s consistent throughout the town,” said Ballard.  

He said his department could grind down the stumps but would have to get equipment repaired first and then schedule it along with brush pickup, filling potholes, repairing catch basins and preparing for road paving.  Ballard said it would take about five weeks for workers to grind the stumps and about twice as long to remove them because of the need to work around utility lines.  

He noted in the past, the town has grinded trees if they posed a danger to cars. The cost of contracting out the work would vary from $200 to grind down each of the 70 stumps for a total of $14,000, $1,000 to remove each stump and spread topsoil and seed for a total of $70,000 to $1,300 to remove each stump and plant a new tree for a total of $91,000.  

Town Supervisor Alex Gromack said, “I’m inclined to continue the practice and grind them.”  

The board members agreed that they did not want to plant replacement trees. After checking with the town’s Comptroller Ed Duer that funds were available in the highway department budget to pay a contractor for the stump grinding, Gromack said a resolution would be introduced at a board meeting to cover the 70 trees. Ballard said the work would probably take a contractor about two weeks. The highway department would handle additional requests.  

Also at the workshop, Department of Environmental Control Deputy Director Dennis Letson reported that 1,000 bags of trash were collected during the Great American Cleanup and 160 road cleanups took place in 2012. He said 14,000 tons of brush was collected last year, an increase of about 25 percent from 2011. Letson said the department will prepare storm water drainage plans for all town buildings.