Oyster Bay to get $750G for storm cleanup

The Town of Oyster Bay will receive a roughly $750,000 reimbursement from state and federal authorities for cleanup costs tied to last year’s post-Christmas snowstorms, officials said.

At Tuesday’s regular meeting, the town board authorized staff to sign reimbursement assistance documents with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State Office of Emergency Management.

FEMA will provide 75 percent of the funds, and the state 12.5 percent. The source of the remaining 12.5 percent was not identified at the meeting, and a request for details was not immediately answered.

The storms, which crippled the region Dec. 26 through 28, led many municipalities to exceed their snow removal budgets.

In other action yesterday, the town:

* Extended its contract with Oyster Bay Animal Hospital to provide veterinary services at the town animal shelter in Syosset. The one-year, $150,000 extension through next June will help continue a program that began last year to neuter feral cats trapped by town employees.

* Entered into a grant agreement to purchase a new mobile pump-out boat. The town is eligible to receive $60,000 of Federal Clean Vessel Act funds to replace its current pump-out boat, which allows vessels to safely empty waste-holding tanks without having to travel to a fixed station. The boat costs $90,000, officials said, and the remaining $30,000 will come from the town’s capital equipment budget.