ThisWeek CW 09/20/2012
Groveport officials will apply for nearly $55,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds as reimbursement for damage related to the June and July storms.
FEMA representatives met with several central Ohio municipalities last month to discuss the reimbursement process, City Administrator Marsha Hall said.
“We need to make our application for FEMA funds before the end of September,” Hall said. “Our reimbursement should be somewhere in the $55,000 range.”
Council member Donna Drury asked what the reimbursement would cover.
“There’s a lot of damaged trees on our city streets, but FEMA will only reimburse for the debris removal, right?” Drury asked.
According to Hall, the FEMA funds would cover debris and stump removal but not tree replacement.
“The funds they’ll reimburse for includes light poles, worker overtime — but not regular time — equipment usage fees and damage to some of the equipment at the pool,” Hall said. “We’ve decided to upgrade some of that equipment when we replace it and FEMA will just expect us to pay the difference.”
Drury said council’s trees and decoration committee voted to appropriate $7,000 in funds to replace 36 city trees damaged by the storms.
“(Public Works Director Dennis Moore) said he’s going to try and not put the same type of tree on the same street so that we have more variety, and then if a disease comes through, like the ash borer, it won’t affect the whole street,” Drury said.
Visitors to the Oct. 13 Apple Butter Day at Heritage Park will also have an opportunity to pick up one of 750 new tree seedlings during the annual giveaway, as well as entering a raffle for one of 10 apple trees, to help replace other damaged trees and increase the tree canopy in the area, Drury said.
Other nearby communities applying for funds include Madison Township, which is seeking nearly $10,000, and Canal Winchester, which applied for nearly $25,000 in FEMA reimbursements.