Two McComb selectmen on Tuesday questioned whether the city should accept Federal Emergency Management Agency funds that would assist in Hurricane Isaac debris clean-up costs.
McComb and other area municipalities may receive a 75 percent FEMA reimbursement for costs incurred during clean-up after and emergency preparations prior to the storm.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency would pick up 12.5 percent of that cost, leaving the city to pay the remaining 12.5 percent.
The board unanimously approved the measure for the public works department to negotiate a debris removal monitoring contract with a private firm, but not without some debate.
But Selectmen Michael Cameron said the city might be better off turning down the funds and doing the work on its own.
He said the city could end up with an enormous clean-up bill under FEMA guidelines, even with just paying its 12.5 percent share.
“I know there are some communities that are not going the FEMA route,” he said.
“So, you’re saying some are paying full cost?” Mayor Whitney Rawlings asked.
“Yes,” Cameron said.
Cameron did not specify which communities were paying the full cost and he could not be reached for comment this morning.
“Twenty five (percent) sounds better than 100,” Rawlings said.
“That depends on the number,” Cameron said.
Selectman Tommy McKenzie also was wary of approving the measure.
“I don’t know what the commitment is,” he said, referring to the city’s potential cost to the debris removal firm.
McKenzie said he worries the city could get stuck with paying for work that FEMA would not cover.
The discussion was spawned from a proposal to negotiate a contract with True North Emergency Management, a Neel-Schaffer Engineering subsidiary, to monitor the clean-up and ensure FEMA guidelines are followed.
Public Works Director Philip Russell stressed that the board was not voting on a contract but only on a measure that would give his department the ability to negotiate with the company. He said a contract would be drawn up once terms are agreed upon and would only take effect with city board approval.
Rawlings, referring to past storms, said the process is not new. “We have been through this drill before,” he said.
The city received FEMA debris clean-up funds for hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Gustav in 2008 and followed the same procedures for reimbursement, Rawlings said.
Meanwhile, two weeks after Isaac, limbs, leaves and large sections of trees still line city streets.
Russell said crews are moving as quickly as possible to begin the clean-up, but there’s little they can do until the city board awards a debris removal contract.
In another development, FEMA announced Tuesday that Pike County was among more than two dozen counties that can get up to 75 percent of eligible costs to repair roads and bridges and other public facilities that were damaged in the storm.
