Stump grinding on hold
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

A special Amherst Town Board meeting was called to order on Monday for two items, but only one was passed.

The board passed a resolution from Council Member Dan Ward to ratify a contract for placement of voting machines in the town. He said he didn't want contracts approved by the supervisor without the town board's involvement.

The bigger issue, which was put on hold, was funding for stump grinding.

The Highway Department was seeking $300,000 for stump grinding but, according to Supervisor Satish Mohan, the town hasn't been able to identify a funding source for the amount.

"The comptroller has not located funds for that work, there is no decision today," Mohan said during the special meeting.

Comptroller Frank Belliotti said the town could use the general fund or the "town outside the village" fund. He said, the highway funds have been used extensively this year and personnel costs are at 89 percent with three months left in the budget year.

The item was tabled until the regular town board meeting on Monday, Oct. 1. Highway Superintendent Bob Anderson said waiting a week could cause the town to miss the small window of opportunity to replant this fall - which affects only storm damaged trees.

Anderson did not attend the meeting because he is at a conference, but he called The Amherst Bee to comment.

Anderson said Mohan and the Town Board have known about the need for funding since February when he sent a letter, and has since sent additional correspondence alerting them to the issue.

"Delaying the stumping grinding could cause us to possibly miss fall planting ... its a small window of time," Anderson said, adding that at one time he was asking for $1 million but it has been reduced to $300,000.

He said it's the town board's responsibility to locate the funding and he has been pushing them to do so for seven months.

Stump grinding is not covered by Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. Also, Anderson said the trimming that needs to be done during the upcoming months and years will not be covered.

The reduction in funding needed for stump grinding is a direct result of less trees being removed.

"We saved as many trees as we could ... at one time we were looking at 39,000 trees affected and we actually removed only 3,000," Jim Zymanek, director of emergency services, said.

The "Charlie Brown" tree phase, of removing another 600 trees, is currently under way. Those are trees that residents had reported for their poor appearance.

Anderson said residents are encouraged to take another look at their front lawns and report any trees they are concerned about "not making it." They can e-mail randerson@amherst.ny.us or call 631-7117.

"We are ahead of schedule for the cleanup but this is going to be a couple years process," Zymanek said.

When the storm hit approximately a year ago, early estimates had the final cost at $22 million, but that is expected to drop to $19-20 million, Zymanek said.

One of the final phases has been the parks. While it took almost a year to get to the parks, Anderson said that phase should be completed this week, which was the target date. That also includes the town's pathways.

Zymanek said, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation, a certain percentage of brush needs to be left in the wooded areas.

Walton Woods, one of the heaviest hit areas, wasn't accessible by trucks, so workers had to climb the trees to remove the hangers.

"We are ahead of schedule, based on the magnitude," Zymanek said.

In other storm related news, Re-Tree Western New York and the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy will hold a "bare-root" tree planting seminar in Snyder on Saturday.

"We plant using the bare-root tree-planting method because it gives us the ability to use any and all volunteers to accomplish our goal. Bare-root trees are less expensive to purchase and easier to maneuver by our people. It just takes a little training to get the hang of it, and these sessions will give our tree planters all the knowledge they need to help us this fall," stated David Colligan, co-chairman of Re-Tree WNY.

The session will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29 at the Park School, 4625 Harlem Road, Snyder. Additional information on Re-Tree WNY is available at www. re- treewny. org.