Town Board to authorize study about storm

Council Member Daniel Ward on Monday called for a study of the Oct. 12-13 winter storm cleanup efforts in the Town of Amherst.

During the Town Board meeting, Ward referred to his proposal as "What went wrong - the study of the storm."

The Town of Amherst sustained a tremendous amount of property

damage in what Ward called the "Great Downed Tree Storm of 2006."

The study will record and analyze the effects of the storm and develop methods to prevent such damage from an unexpected storm in the future.

The town will collect residents' stories, criticisms and activities that went on during the week following the event. People are asked to submit e-mail or written complaints, showing the nature and extent of the power outage.

The board requested that federal, state and local governments complete a comprehensive list of all government aid Amherst received.

Supervisor Satish Mohan will apply for aid and keep records of the applications and results. The building commissioner, planning director, town engineer, director of emergency services and company fire chiefs are to analyze the electrical power utilities and devise a plan of how to better protect them from future storm damage.

Jim Zymanek, director of emergency services, has been authorized to develop a new disaster plan for inclusion on the town Web site and to be given to town officers and employees.