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Superstorm Sandy Continues To Hit New Castle’s Wallet

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. – Last fall’s Hurricane Sandy seems to be the storm that keeps on giving – or rather – taking. The current tally for town storm damage is $400,000.

New Castle is continuing to incur tree removal costs from Hurricane Sandy.

New Castle is continuing to incur tree removal costs from Hurricane Sandy.

Photo Credit: Julie Curtis

The hope is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will pay for all of it.

“Last week we had the kickoff meeting with FEMA to start the work on getting reimbursed from Storm Sandy,” Town Administrator Penny Paderewski said at last week’s New Castle Town Board meeting. “The first step, which all the departments have been working on since the storm, was calculating all the costs the town has incurred.”

Although New Castle’s tab is already over $400,000, the tree company and town staff continue to work on cleaning up and clearing storm debris.

“Costs are still mounting,” said Paderewski. “We are hoping for a 100 percent reimbursement, but there has been no commitment yet.”

New Castle's Master Plan Moving Along

The Town of New Castle recently received a commitment from the county to update base studies for the town’s Master Plan, which currently dates to 1989. If all goes according to plan, the concept for a new Master Plan could be rolled out in the fall of 2013.

“The town and county are working together on collecting all known publications needed for this work,” said Paderewski. “Hopefully we can complete the [base] studies in six to eight months."

According to Paderewski, if everything stays on course, Town Planner Sabrina Charney and the Town Board will appoint a steering committee in the spring and establish work groups in time for fall meetings, when the goal and visionary part of the process is expected to occur.

“Sabrina tells me we will be outreaching to the public once the background studies are complete,” said Paderewski. “The outreach efforts would commence in September and continue through completion of a draft plan. The intent is to have a draft plan ready for SEQRA [State Environmental Quality Review Act] review by the end of 2013.”

Paderewski said the town will provide updates Master Plan development throughout the year.

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