About 31 municipalities were reporting damage to town-owned property last week as a result of the floodwaters from Tropical Storm Irene that scoured low-lying areas in central and southern Vermont.
Steve Jeffrey, executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, said his office, which provides insurance, legal and logistical support for the state's municipalities, is “still counting,” but as of Sept. 6, the rough estimate of the total damage is $12.26 million – so far.
“We're still trying to reach out to some of these smaller communities,” Jeffrey said. “We started calling a week ago Monday, and we're finally getting through to the end of line.”
The tally of municipal structures ruined by Irene is staggering: Eleven town offices, six highway garages, seven covered bridges, seven fire stations and five libraries. In addition, damage has been reported to a number of police cruisers, pump stations for sewage treatment plants, dams, swimming pools and water treatment plants, Jeffrey said.
The silver lining? Town-owned infrastructure is covered under insurance through the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. The league has a self-insurance policy with a $1 million deductible that covers all member towns statewide. The policy covers up to $9 million in damages for each town. Jeffrey said towns should be eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for costs related to structural damage that exceeds that amount.
“We're set up to deal with a statewide hurricane situation,” Jeffrey said. “Almost all of the claim impact goes to reinsurance. We'll get to pay higher premiums in the future, but it looks like the risk is spread very nicely.”
The $12-million-plus total Jeffrey cites doesn't include the cost of repairing local roads and bridges. It also omits debris removal and hazard mitigation costs, which are less likely to be covered by insurance, Jeffrey said.
Debris removal for town-owned buildings is covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the public assistance portion of the major disaster declaration. Hazard mitigation is also a recoverable expense, according to FEMA officials.
Tempers flared early last week over what is and isn't covered by FEMA during a conference call between federal and municipal officials. Disputes emerged over the bidding process for contractors and reimbursements for removal of debris on or from private property that potentially poses a public safety hazard. Last weekend, FEMA began holding regional informational meetings with towns to alleviate confusion over reimbursement rules and help towns prepare their damage reports.
Biggest losses? Town highways
What isn't included in Jeffrey's tally or covered by the League's insurance are the hundreds of sections of town highways and dozens of bridges that were gutted by Irene and will have to be repaired or replaced. Jeffery said town highways and bridges represent 75 percent to 85 percent of municipal losses.
“The big exposure for towns is roads and bridges which aren't insured,” Jeffrey said.
State transportation officials say damage estimates for town roads could be several hundred million dollars. Local municipalities (and property taxpayers) are responsible for 12.5 percent of the cost of repairing, and, in some cases, replacing, town highway infrastructure. The federal government foots 75 percent of the bill; the state picks up 12.5 percent of the tab.
Local taxpayers will have to pay for whatever isn't covered by the state and federal government.
The price tag for road restoration for local property taxpayers in the dozens of towns afflicted by Irene could be roughly $25 million, if the damage is $200 million. That number could go up or down, depending on the federal rate of reimbursement and the final estimates. FEMA state and town officials are still calculating the costs.
“If we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to roads and bridges - 12.5 percent of that is a lot of money,” Jeffrey said. “There will be, even under the best of circumstances, a local obligation to pay for this - maybe in lieu of other work towns are doing this year, but for the most part it will be in addition to. Unless the Legislature comes into session and votes to quadruple town highway aid, I can't see any other option than property taxes going up.”
The damage to state highways is also at least several hundred million dollars, and that figure could be much higher, state transportation officials say.
The cost of Irene's impact on town and state highway budgets could rival the amount the state spends annually on transportation. The state's transportation budget for fiscal year 2012, which includes spending on public transit, rail, airport and highway transportation, is $545 million. About $30 million of that total was set aside for town highway paving and bridges.
Towns maintain about half of the bridges in the state that are more than 20 feet long, Jeffrey said. Ninety percent of the highway mileage in the state - including Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 town roads - is owned by local municipalities.
Post-Irene stress on municipal officials
The destruction of town property and highways is only part of the post-Irene puzzle for the dozens of municipalities that have few human resources at their disposal. Many of the towns that have been traumatized - Jamaica, West Hartford, Rochester, Hancock, Brandon, Wilmington, Dover, Castleton, Northfield, West Rutland, Stockbridge and Pittsfield - have populations of fewer than 2,000 people.
As the disaster and its aftermath has unfolded, a small handful of public officials - paid road crews, volunteer firefighters and selectboards - have taken charge.
In some instances, town officials have lost their office spaces or key work facilities at the same time they are trying to open important roadways and bridges, save town offices and salvage records, organize volunteer efforts, restore safe drinking water or sewage treatment systems, work with state officials - and apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Town leaders are also the main fall back for local citizens who are in need of housing, food, water and information.
Jeffrey said town officials are bearing up under the pressure. He said managing the volunteer efforts can be difficult because they are “hugely complex.”
“They (town officials) are not super human,” Jeffrey said. “Yes, there are times when they get stressed out. I think that the fact that the community is close to them and that they're with them through this whole thing gives them a lot to strength.”
Jeffrey said the state may hire a private company to help town officials manage the application forms for reimbursements for highways, bridges and other infrastructure. The cost of hiring a contractor would be recoverable under FEMA rules, Jeffrey said, and if the applications are submitted correctly, the state and local entities can maximize the amount of money it receives from the federal government.
Brian Searles, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, announced last week that designated regional planning commissions will work with the towns to prepare FEMA applications.
Municipal officials take on long-term problems, chafe against FEMA rules
In Waterbury, public officials are struggling to overcome the problems posed by the impact of Irene's floodwaters on local residents who are now homeless and dependent on the town for food and shelter.
Since the water subsided, leaving a thick layer of sewage and petroleum-laced silt behind, the town has been organizing volunteers for the cleanup, attempting to find temporary housing for residents and repairing a compromised waste-water system and sewer breaks.
Despite its large base of volunteers, its size (about 5,200 residents, a large town by Vermont standards), and its resources (it has a municipal manager and a police department), Waterbury is beset by flood-related issues.
Bill Shepeluk, municipal manager for the town, said there are more than 250 properties in Waterbury and over the river in Duxbury that were ruined in the floodwaters. Until last week, the town was providing breakfast, lunch and dinner to the households impacted by the floods. The Salvation Army has since taken over the preparation of 1,000 meals a day for homeless residents and volunteers.
Though his town suffered very little highway damage and the water system is intact (a boil water notice was never put into effect and water service was not interrupted), Waterbury's sewage system took a hit when the pump station on Route 100 and Route 2 was filled with sludge and mud.
The municipal building was not only flooded to the ceiling of the first floor, but also took a direct hit from an oil tank that was upended by floodwaters. Two hundred gallons of fuel oil spilled inside the building. The offices have been temporarily relocated to the Thatcher Brook Elementary School, and municipal officials are thinking about moving the town offices permanently.
In all, Waterbury has seen $1.2 million in damage to town property, Shepeluk said, most of which will be covered by Vermont League of Cities and Towns insurance. He expects the town will also place a claim with FEMA for the sewer mains that broke and a minor road repair.
Debris-removal costs at issue
Shepeluk said it could be difficult to obtain reimbursement from FEMA for debris removal. In the aftermath of Irene, Waterbury put hundreds of volunteers to work cleaning out waterlogged houses. The town hauled trash from residences, businesses and town property right away because it viewed the mounting piles of sewage and petroleum-contaminated trash as a health hazard. The town hired private contractors to move 20 or more dumpsters that held as much as 80 yards of material to the landfill right away.
Debris removal rules were the biggest sticking point with FEMA during a conference call last week with local officials from around the state.
Shepeluk wanted to know if debris removal would be reimbursable.
“At first it appeared they were saying debris removal is covered, and as the conversation went on they said as long as debris is removed to curb we don't reimburse for debris from private property,” Shepeluk said. “Then they said if it's moved to curb, we'll pay for it. It sounds like they're going to reimburse (us) for a portion of it.”
Craig Gilbert, recovery operations director for FEMA, emphasized several times that “Debris removal from private property is generally not eligible because it is the responsibility of the individual property owner.”
FEMA has a separate program for individual assistance.
Under its public assistance program, reimbursements fall under three categories – emergency protective measures, debris removal and highway and bridge repair and restoration. Claims under the first two categories receive funding right away, according to Gilbert; the third category claims will be reimbursed at a later date. Gilbert recommended that as towns bring roads back to “pre-disaster conditions, make sure everything is documented; take a lot of pictures.”
Warren Manzke of Wardsboro wanted to know if removal of a logjam in a stream bed on private property was eligible for reimbursement under the rules. Gilbert said debris that is removed from private property is not eligible for federal reimbursement unless it poses a public safety hazard.
The conference call became heated when Richard Gallup, the road foreman in Wardsboro, demanded to know whether FEMA would pay for the log removal or not, in light of the possibility that the logjam could be swept downstream in spring flooding and ruin bridge and/or highway repairs his crew makes this fall.
“I'm hearing if we have a dam of trees in a wooded area on someone's private property that may take our bridge out 100 yards downstream, we can't remove that,” Gallup said.
Gilbert said the town must obtain approval to pull the logs in advance by a FEMA official.
“When is someone going to come out and approve it?” Manzke asked. Gallup chimed in: “Because we're in danger now. We lost roads now because of this issue this morning with the rain. We're tired of waiting; we haven't seen nobody from FEMA.”
Gilbert urged town officials to resolve the issue during FEMA “kickoff” meetings with municipalities on the weekend.
“We have two logjams now that are in danger of taking out our bridges right now and you're telling us we can't do anything about it,” Gallup said. “Or, we may not get paid for it.”
“The latter is true,” Gilbert said. “You certainly should do something about it now, but it may not be an eligible cost.”
“How do we pay for it? We are a little town,” Gallup said. Manzke chimed in, “We have nothing for money.”
Gilbert reiterated that Wardsboro must get prior approval from FEMA for the work.
Town officials also had questions about the FEMA bidding process. Any work by private contractors that costs less than $25,000, or was completed within the first 70 hours of the flood damage, is exempt from FEMA bidding rules. Any contracts between $25,000 and $100,000 can be bid out through an informal, phone bidding process. Anything that costs more than $100,000 must be subject to a formal bidding process with advertisements in local newspapers and vetting of three to five written bid proposals.