Spring Break
Reimbursement request to be sent to R.I. emergency agency
Shaun Boutwell
Issue date: 3/23/05 Section: News
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"We are in the process of totaling it up," Jerry Sidio, director of Facilities Services, said.
Sidio said it is primarily dealing with the cost of the snow removal during the weekend of Jan. 22 and 23, when the region received over 20 inches of snow and a state of emergency was declared for Rhode Island.
"We started our snow crews on Saturday at 3 p.m. and they weren't finished until Monday at 10 p.m.," he said. "They worked non-stop."
Facilities Services also hired three contractors during the period and, because it was during the weekend, the campus workers were paid overtime, Sidio said. They were also paid throughout the rest of the week on regular time.
"Those [regular time] costs weren't reflected [in the reimbursement request]," Sidio said. "They are in our normal operations budget. We pay the workers whether or not they were removing snow or cutting grass."
"On a year we have heavy snow and have a lot of overtime and contractors, we can't do as much cleaning in the spring," he said. "On a year we have less snow, we can use the money to clean up the campus."
Sidio said part of the operations budget goes to maintaining flowerbeds and curbing in the spring.
Veronica Walsh, an executive business analyst for Business and Finance Services, is in charge of going over the documentation of expenses before it is sent to RIEMA.
Walsh said she will have received all of the expenses from the other offices and services by March 25.
"I have a week to look it over and revise it, and then I have to send it to RIEMA on April 1," she said.
If RIEMA approves the request, it will then be sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The university could receive a check as early as June 30, Walsh said.
According to the FEMA Web site, it will reimburse Rhode Island for 75 percent of the total eligible costs of equipment, contracts and personnel overtime related to the January storm. Related measures such as sanding and salting will also be eligible for reimbursement.
Walsh said the university was able to recoup $18,000 after a major snowstorm two years ago that caused over 48 hours of extra work. She is hopeful that they will receive even more this year, especially since workers put in 72 hours of overtime during January's storm.
Estimates for emergency and regular time pay will not be available until next week, Walsh said.
"We could have a nice reimbursement," she said. "They don't give back 100 percent, but it's better than nothing."
