By David Kilby, Special Writer
ALLENTOWN — Borough Council has unanimously approved a $37,500 emergency appropriation to cover the costs associated with Hurricane Sandy.
The lion’s share of the appropriation ($32,000) is for garbage and debris removal, according to the resolution. The rest is for police overtime ($3,000) and insurance-related costs ($2,500).
”We have gone through a breakdown of costs that basically substantiate the cost to date due to the emergency,” Mayor Stuart Fierstein said at the Nov. 28 Borough Council meeting. “We’ve broken it down by those items that have to be expended from existing funds, those items that are reimbursable from FEMA, and those items that need transferred funds,” Mayor Fierstein said.
The law allows the borough to appropriate up to 3 percent of its 2012 budget, (about $58,000) so the emergency appropriation is under the permitted threshold.
”Our request is that the state, as it reviews these will allow us to go outside the cap,” the mayor said, referring to the state mandate that limits annual spending increases but provides exemptions for emergency situations.
Most of the work has been completed, except for cleaning up debris, the mayor said. Public Works employees have been working extended hours. A chipper truck is still chipping up the downed trees around town.
He said the hard spent amount to date is about $22,500 and is hoping that the extra $15,000 appropriated will cover the rest of the work.
”If there is unspent money it will be put back in before the end of the year,” Mayor Fierstein said
