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CAROL LOLLIS

The Casagrande family of 45 South Valley Road in Pelham say they voluntarily cleared this brush from the road and are now being asked by the town to remove it, a request they consider unfair.

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CAROL LOLLIS

The Casagrande family of 45 South Valley Road in Pelham say they voluntarily cleared this brush from the road and are now being asked by the town to remove it, a request they consider unfair.

PELHAM - When the Casagrande family found their street blocked by downed trees the day after the October snowstorm, they decided to do the neighborly thing - clear the road.

Now, in a dispute that illustrates the problems facing towns and residents in the aftermath of the crippling storm, the Casagrandes and Pelham officials are at loggerheads over who should pick up three piles of tree limbs. Two of the piles are in front of the Casagrandes' South Valley Road house jutting out onto the road. The third is on the Casagrandes' lawn.

The family says it was trying to clear the road so a family member who plows driveways for a living could get to work. They say they were also trying to make the street passable for their neighbors, some of whom are elderly.

The town, however, contends that at least some of the debris comes from the Casagrandes' property and has asked the family to remove it. If the town moves the pile, Pelham's chances of receiving federal help for cleanup costs could be jeopardized, officials say. If the federal government decides to reimburse towns for their cleanup costs from the Oct. 29 storm, most debris on private land would not be covered under such a declaration.

The Casagrandes are angry.

"We volunteered our time, made sure our elderly neighbors could get out of their homes and we are now being told we have to move it," said Rebecca Casagrande. "We're pretty frustrated. This is not our brush pile. We took care of our brush pile. This is the town's brush pile and the town needs to take care of it."

She said a small crew made up of family members and neighbors spent seven hours clearing a quarter-mile stretch of street in the direction of Amherst Road. The brush, Casagrande said, was piled by her house to make it easier for road crews to deal with.

But Department of Public Works Superintendent Richard Adamcek maintains that some of the debris came from the Casagrandes' yard.

"There is private brush mixed in with it, the amount I don't know," Adamcek said. "I am not going to jeopardize getting $30,000 (in federal reimbursement) back for the town because one irate citizen wants us to chip brush from her lawn."

Pelham Police Chief Gary Thomann, who told the Casagrandes to move the pile, said the South Valley Road brush is the only debris pile in town that is in dispute.

Adamcek estimates that the town is facing $40,000 in cleanup costs from the storm, and is hoping Pelham will be reimbursed for most of that expense by the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

Reimbursment not resolved

Yet whether Pelham or any other municipality will receive federal assistance for debris cleanup remains an open question.

Alan Dobson, a FEMA spokesman, said agency crews have just recently completed a preliminary disaster assessment and FEMA, along with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Administration, is in the process of determining whether to issue a major disaster declaration.

MEMA spokesman Peter Judge said the commonwealth would have to reach a damage threshold of $8.8 million statewide to qualify for a federal emergency declaration. Individual counties qualify for disaster assistance based on a damage-per-person assessment, Judge said. The damage in an individual county must at least equal $3.50 per person for that county to qualify for assistance, he said.

"Relative to the damage of the storm, particularly in the central and western part of the state, reaching those thresholds was not a problem," Judge said.

If such a declaration is made, municipalities would likely receive up to 75 percent of the costs of cleaning up debris from the storm, according to guidelines released by MEMA earlier this month. Only private debris that poses an imminent threat to public safety or impedes access to private property would be eligible for cleanup, the guidelines said.

Different approaches

In the meantime, area towns have adopted different strategies for dealing with storm debris.

Northampton DPW Director Ned Huntley said the city is not counting on federal or state assistance for storm cleanup. He said he does not want to put the city in a position of expecting help, only to have none arrive. Going it alone also helps remove the risk of accidentally removing private brush, Huntley said.

"We decided we would do it ourselves and take away the potential risk," Huntley said. "We're picking up (debris) along the roadside and we've instructed residents that they are responsible for their own property."

Joseph Pipczynski, Easthampton public works director, said his town would begin roadside debris cleanup Monday. If there is any question over whether debris is public or private, the city will take it. But if it is determined brush came from private property, it will be left for residents to pick up, he said.

"If a guy has hardwoods in the front of his property and evergreens in the back, and there's evergreens on the pile, then they're staying," Pipczynski said.

That approach was seconded by Alan Snow, Amherst tree warden. He said it was fairly easy to tell what debris is from the public right of way and what is not. If the volume of debris in the brush pile exceeds what is growing beside the road, or if it includes species not growing along the road, it includes private brush and it will not be taken away by the town, Snow said.

"We do our best and try to be fair," Snow said. He noted that the town would like to be in a position to deal with the private brush, but doesn't have the resources. In the weeks since the storm, Amherst has spent $200,000 on debris cleanup, he said.

Back in Pelham, the Select Board will decide what to do about the Casagrandes' brush. The board is next scheduled to meet Monday.

"I know people are frustrated about it," said board member Linda Michaud. "But because we have such a limited budget, we don't want to jeopardize our federal help from the storm."

If there is one topic that all agree on, it is that winter is coming, and the brush presents a major challenge for plowing. Debris beside the road will be caught up with the snow and dispensed on resident's yards.

Abraham Gladstone, a South Valley Road resident, said there is no easy answer to the conflict.

"As a neighbor on South Valley Road, I absolutely appreciated the effort they made," Gladstone said of the Casagrandes' work. "It made it easier for me to get out of my house and make my way down the road."

"On the other side of the ledger, the town cannot be responsible unless we as town citizens want to pay for it because there is a budget," he said, noting residents would have to pay more in taxes in order to employ a larger highway department capable of picking up storm debris more quickly.