Another delay for brush removal.

Byline: Michael Kane

WEST BOYLSTON - Leaving options open and waiting and seeing can best describe the situation the Board of Selectmen finds itself in regards to the removal of brush leftover from the Dec. 12 ice storm. Just days after signing an agreement with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for the removal of brush along many of West Boylston's roads, the board rescinded that vote after the state and federal government fell into a disagreement over the cost of the clean-up.

Because of the Asian longhorned beetle infestation, brush removal in parts of West Boylston, Boylston, Holden and Shrewsbury and all of Worcester are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But, because a state of emergency was declared in December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to cover 75 percent of the cost of removal from proclaimed disaster areas.

That is, if the two sides can agree on how much the job should cost. FEMA is questioning the DCR estimates for removal in the beetle quarantine area and Lt. Governor Timothy Murray and Congressman James McGovern have become involved in the dispute.

On Monday, frustrated by the lack of action six months after the ice storm, selectmen rescinded an earlier vote that allowed removal to be done by the DCR. However, while they opted out of the earlier contract, the board is taking a wait-and-see attitude on moving forward with hiring its own contractors, partnering with Holden to hire contractors or waiting for the state and federal government to solve their disagreement.

"It's not that we're against doing it with (the DCR), we've just decided not to sign the agreement," Chairman Kevin McCormick said.

"As of now, we feel it is not a viable option," Town Administrator Leon Gaumond Jr. said.

Other options include using the Department of Public Works to do the work, although the feeling expressed by board members is that the process would be extended by several months.

A motion by Selectman Allen Phillips for the town to go out to bid with Holden for brush removal was not voted on, for at least one week.

"To me, anything you have to ask your congressman to get involved in because of a dispute between the federal and state governments is not a good thing," Phillips said.

Selectmen opted to wait until the end of this week to see if there is a solution before moving forward with any decision, however, after Gaumond related the monetary realities of forgoing a partnership with the state. Regardless of the lowest bids, the clean-up would cost the town more without the DCR because the state has agreed to pay the disposal and chipping costs in full. If the town went on its own or with Holden, the towns would bear those costs.

"I know the residents may be mad, but if we signed something two months ago that costs us $4 million, and today it would have cost us $1 million, they would be even madder," Selectman Christopher Rucho said.

Selectmen also announced that May 11 has been added as an additional date that the brush and yard waste disposal site at the corner of Shrewsbury Street and Paul X. Tivnan Drive will be run by the Department of Public Works.