FLY CREEK - The town of Otsego has wasted no time getting to work clearing and repairing flood-damaged roadways.

By last Thursday morning, town supervisor Tom Breiten and highway superintendent Brian Pernat had surveyed what they now estimate is between $1.5 and $2 million in damage.

Brieten called a special meeting of the town board Thursday night to discuss the damage and decide how repairs would be paid for.

"We'll end up spending a lot of money before the party's over," he told the board, adding that the pair had developed a plan in the last 24 hours. "We have to get moving or we'll be playing catch-up for six months," he said.

"Everybody can at least get in and out now," said Pernat.

Breiten said their were 22 points of damage that he and Pernat had catalogued so far. Some of the road washouts can be repaired for a few thousand dollars, but others, like the big culvert on Stone House Road, could cost $200,000 or more.

The supervisor explained that FEMA would typically reimburse 75 percent of the cost of repairs for approved projects. The state, he said, would pay 12.5 percent and the remaining 12.5 percent will be paid for locally.

FEMA has another program which will provide 50 to 75 percent of the cost of upgrades to the infrastructure. In that case, he said, the town will probably have to pay 25 percent of the upgrade cost.

Breiten said he had a call in to Senator James Seward in an attempt to get state money from him to offset some of the cost, but doesn't want to wait.

"I don't know the supply of culvert pipes, but I believe they'll be few and far between before long," he said. "I told Brian to go get them."

The board also discussed hiring private contractors to do some of the work to speed up the process. It made more sense, Breiten said, to hire contractors with bigger equipment for some of the jobs and use the town's equipment on smaller scale projects.

According to Breiten, the comptroller's office said town's usual procurement policy may be suspended temporarily because of the emergency situation. Pernat was advised to review estimates from private contractors and if they seemed reasonable, he may put them to work.

Breiten said he believes the town has sufficient funds on hand to finance the work until federal and state funds become available.

"I think we can float this. That's why were in here now to get it done while the getting's good. We're going to try to get it fixed by snowfall," he said.

Breiten asked the board about putting off the town's paving program until repairs are completed.

"Paving is the last thing at this point, said councilman Orlo Burch. "Put the paving plan on hold."

"We have to get these roads up to speed and safe," councilman John Schallert added.