Benton County awaits disaster aid

Benton County plans to contract out most of the work to repair damage from recent flooding now that federal disaster aid will be available.
Benton County plans to contract out most of the work to repair damage from recent flooding now that federal disaster aid will be available.

BENTONVILLE -- State and federal disaster aid will help keep the 2016 Benton County road plan on schedule, officials said.

Arkansas and Benton County have qualified for federal disaster aid to repair damage from the late December flooding, County Judge Bob Clinard said. The county will probably hire contractors to do repair work so Road Department crews stay on schedule, Clinard said.

Disaster Aid

Benton County residents and public entities may be eligible for state and federal disaster assistance to cover the cost of damage from the recent flooding. Marshal Watson, the county’s emergency services administrator, said more information can be obtained on the Federal Emergency Management Agency website at www.disasterassista… or by calling FEMA at 1-800-621-3362.

Source: Staff report

The cost to repair flood damage in the county has been estimated at $2 million. The county will be responsible for paying 12.5 percent, or $250,o00, of the repair costs.

Contracting for the repair work is essentially a "break-even" proposition because of the methods used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Clinard said.

"FEMA comes out and does an estimate of the damage," he said. "They calculate the cost of the labor, materials and equipment, everything involved to repair that as if the county doesn't have any resources."

The county could do the repair work with Road Department crews at a lower direct cost, but that ignores the scheduled work those employees are scheduled to do, Clinard said.

"We think it's better for the county if we keep our own people on task doing the work we need to do," he said.

Marshal Watson, emergency services administrator, said the county will work with FEMA and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management on a disaster recovery center, which will be manned by local, state and federal officials. Area residents will be able to apply for disaster assistance in person at the center.

The December flooding left the county with less damage than flooding incidents in 2013 and 2011, Watson said. The 2013 flooding caused about $4 million in damage. In the 2011 flooding, there was about $1 million in damage the county reported and about $5 million total damage, including damage in cities, Watson said.

The county has worked to mitigate conditions contributing to floods since then, Watson said.

"I think we've really started to see some results from our mitigation efforts," he said. "The $2 million in damage is down from the previous ones."

Pat Adams, justice of the peace and chairman of the Transportation Committee, said contracting the repair work is a good idea. The county has money in reserve to pay for the work up front and wait to be reimbursed, he said.

"I don't have a problem with that at all as long as we keep within what FEMA will pay," Adams said. "If the county has to pay a couple hundred thousand dollars after we get reimbursed, it isn't going to hurt."

Kevin Harrison, justice of the peace, also said he favors hiring contractors to repair the flood damage.

"I think that's a great idea for a couple of reasons," Harrison said. "When FEMA looks at the price, they look at it as if we were contracting it out, so it doesn't cost us any more to do that. Second, it puts money into the local economy. I hope we can hire all local contractors to do the work, if that's possible."

Tom Allen, justice of the peace for and chairman of the Finance Committee, said the process of doing the repair work and getting reimbursed is a familiar one.

"The good news is we will get paid back. The bad news is we have to fund the costs up front. So it's a good thing we have a healthy reserve," Allen said.

NW News on 02/11/2016

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