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Fite: FEMA to cover most of storm damage |
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
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By Whit Jones
Courier Staff The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay the lion’s share of the estimated $1.5 million it will cost to clean up storm-ravaged parts of Saline County, County Judge Lanny Fite said Tuesday night.
The county on Monday was declared a federal disaster area as a result of damage from the April 3 storms and from flooding caused by ensuing heavy rainfall. The disaster declaration ensures that FEMA will pay 75 percent of the costs to clear debris and repair roads in unincorporated areas of the county, Fite said.
Fite said prior to the Quorum Court meeting at the courthouse in Downtown Benton that the state will pay 12.5 percent of the cleanup costs through the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. That will leave the county responsible for the remaining 12.5 percent, he said.
Based on the $1.5 million estimate, FEMA would pay $1.25 million, leaving the state and Saline County each with a $187,500 price tag.
“The best we can tell, it’s going to take about $1 million to clear debris and another $500,000 to repair roads,” Fite said.
“This will be in unincorporated areas of the county, or this will include any areas where debris is piled up in county rights of way. And I think it’s important to note that these costs are separate from what costs might be incurred by Benton or Bryant or other municipalities.”
Rather than waiting on assistance checks before starting cleanup efforts, Fite said the county will begin removing debris and repairing roads and will then be reimbursed by FEMA and ADEM.
“I think residents would rather us get started that have us sitting and waiting to receive money before we do much,” Fite said.
“We think that is the fair thing to do, the right thing to do. We’re just as anxious as anybody else to get things back to normal as much as possible.”
Fite said that probably 90 percent of the county’s 1,100 roads need some type of repair work.
“Some repairs will be hundreds of dollars and some thousands of dollars,” he said. “But it all adds up when you have so much damage.”
Roads sustaining the most damage, Fite said, are Fairplay and Narrows.
“We had just paved Fairplay and the shoulders were soft and washed out,” he said. “It’s going to take about $30,000 to fix that road. Narrows had a culvert wash out, and it’ll take about $50,000 to fix that.”
During the Quorum Court meeting, justices of the peace took the following action:
•Declared May as Drug Court Month in the county. National Drug Court Commencement Week is May 5-9, but Fite said the program has been so important to Saline County that he believes month-long recognition is more appropriate. There were 12 drug courts in 1994 and now there are more than 2,100.
•Re-appointed Mike McCauley to a three-year term on the Saline Memorial Hospital Board of Directors. His second term will expire June 30, 2011.
•Appointed Lance Penfield of Bryant to the Saline Memorial Hospital Board of Directors. He will replace Margaret Ramsey Roberts, whose term expires June 30. Penfield will serve a three-year term.
•Appointed George “Bucky” Ellis, a Benton attorney, to a five-year term on the Saline County Library Board of Directors. Ellis will replace Linda Edwards, whose term expires June 30. He will serve until 2013.
•Approved the purchase of 31 police-equipped vehicles for the sheriff’s office at a cost of $410,000. The vehicles include 20 Dodge Chargers, eight Chevrolet Impalas and three Dodge Durangos. The state assists in acquiring low bids for the vehicles, which were purchased from three dealerships. Police cars purchased several years ago were used as trade-ins.
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