SILVER CREEK - Keeping the budget balanced is a pressing concern for the Village of Silver Creek, as it is left to foot the bill for flood-related items while waiting for eventual compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

After the Monday village board meeting, Trustee Amy Romanik said the village has had to spent much more than was budgeted for because of the flood and there are plans to meet with the budget officer next week in order to ensure that the village stays within its means.

Ralph Crawford reported that the Streets Department is running about 12 weeks behind schedule due to required repair work after the flood.

His work with FEMA continues on a daily basis.

"Unfortunately, we have to pay for pretty much everything up front in order to get reimbursed," Crawford said.

A permanent solution is still being sought for the Department of Public Works building, temporarily stationed in Hanover.

"Right now we're just collecting information and exploring all avenues - any opportunity that comes in, we're looking into," Trustee Amy Romanik, chairman of the committee responsible for the DPW building, said. "We're kind of waiting to see what we're going to get back from FEMA before we make any final decisions."

Dan Smith of Daniel D. Smith Construction hand delivered proposals on the DPW building to the board at the meeting.

"I heard they were looking at a couple other options," Smith said after the meeting. "I own a shop in Silver Creek that's too big for my business and I can renovate it to meet all of the new codes... I just thought I would give Silver Creek an option on it and see how it worked into their plans."

Silver Creek resident Andrew Volk inquired about the state of the village's storm sewer system after the August flood, which he said had already been compromised for some time, and asked if FEMA was going to reimburse the village for the damage.

"We're working with mitigation projects through FEMA," Crawford said.

As the board moved to approve the payment of $266,394.77 for the bills on abstract No. 8, Trustee Anna Frederickson explained the abstract included the payment of $95,786 for the ambulance, which the village had received a check for.

"Other than that, there are a number of items that pertain to our flooding that hopefully we will get back from FEMA - we don't know when though," Frederickson said.

The board also accepted the formal proposal from Baystone Financial Group for a three-year term at a 4.850 percent interest rate for the 2009 Ford E450 Road Rescue Ambulance, with annual payment at $15,769.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced last week that FEMA Disaster Center would transition into SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Center, headquartered at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, effective Oct. 26.

Romanik extended thanks to employees of the village for their help with flood recovery.

"Things are slowly starting to get back to normal for them and I think they've done a great job being out of their comfort zone," Romanik said.

In other business:

The board approved transfers of funds from Contingent Account A1990 in the amounts of $2,000 for the writing of the firehouse grant, pertaining to repairs to the building, and $300 for two Animal Control Acts. Due to the closure of the SPCA in Angola, the Jamestown SPCA will now have to be used.

Dave Smathers was reinstated to the active rolls of the Silver Creek Fire Department.

The board moved to go out to bid for the dredging of the mouth of the creek.

Police Chief Timothy Roche reported an uneventful Halloween, which he attributed to limited trick-or-treat hours in the village, and reminded residents that the overnight parking ban on the streets between 2 and 7 a.m. will go into effect Nov. 15.

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