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Officials get the governor’s ear post Hurricane Irma

Jesse Hollett
Posted 9/20/17

ORANGE PARK – Municipal and county public officials made their cases Tuesday to Gov. Rick Scott on how they would like to see post restoration efforts look like.

The meeting at the Town of …

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Officials get the governor’s ear post Hurricane Irma


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Municipal and county public officials made their cases Tuesday to Gov. Rick Scott on how they would like to see post restoration efforts look like.

The meeting at the Town of Orange Park council chambers brought together elected officials countywide to receive updates on how the state has coped with the destruction caused by Hurricane Irma as it tore through the state last week.

“I know everybody’s worked hard to get through this hurricane,” Scott said. “The flooding was horrible up here…it’s unbelievable how much flooding we got.”

While Florida has to contend with devastation and strained resources statewide, the county’s primary concern at this point is recovery.

Hurricane Irma came as municipalities proposed their budgets for the next fiscal year. The countywide damages are expected to turn budget surpluses into shortfalls as municipalities expect the financial worst.

Orange Park officials estimate that in the town alone damages could range between $350,000 and $500,000.

The town has already nearly spent as much in emergency spending and payroll alone than it did cleaning up after last year’s Hurricane Matthew.

Despite being prodded by Scott Orange Park Mayor Scott Land did not ask for state help for any restoration project. Scott said because this is his seventh and final year as governor, this would be the perfect time to ask.

Other municipalities gladly accepted the offer to let the governor know their troubles. Penney Farms Mayor Adrian Andrews said their infamous oak tree canopy along State Road 16 was felled in the storm and fallen limbs have caused the community to open its wallet more than it would like.

Green Cove Springs Mayor Mitch Timberlake said the city’s primary concern was telephone companies.

“Green Cove has fared well, we are right at 100 percent restoration and power, utility services…The one area we could use some help is that we are getting tremendous pushback from the cable companies and the telephone companies to take care of their downed cables…It’s dangerous, it’s a public health hazard,” Timberlake said.

Clay County Commissioner Gavin Rollins expressed concern about the closure of the County Road 218 Bridge Tuesday. Bridge inspector divers uncovered “potential safety issues” with the bridge and closed it as a matter of caution.

County Manager Stephanie Kopelousos said the bridge sustained scour damage from the flooding along Black Creek during Hurricane Irma and was among the hardest hit part of the county.

Bridge scour occurs when fast moving water lifts sediment layers from bridge abutments. Bridge scour can scoop out holes near bridge support columns and compromise the integrity of the structure.

Although it is not clear when a fix will arrive, current traffic should instead travel to State Road 16 to Blanding Boulevard to reach their destinations.

John Ward, Clay County director of Emergency Management, said a big concern is ensuring residents have access to the all of the help the Federal Emergency Management Agency can provide.

Scott said 90 percent of Floridians who have signed up for benefits through FEMA have done so online, but said more FEMA representatives need to have their boots on the ground throughout the state.

Although not asked during the discussion, all county governments and municipalities in the state suffer from the same reality – they are spending dollars for Hurricane Irma restoration while FEMA has yet to reimburse governments for the money they spent cleaning up last October’s Hurricane Matthew.

Scott said last Wednesday, after a tour along Black Creek, that he would reach out to FEMA administrators to see how to best expedite the reimbursement process.

“I talked to the administrator of FEMA about this last week,” Scott said. “They can do advance payments…What they’ve said to me is that they’ll work with counties or cities, whoever, to do advance payments.”

If the county receives an advance payment and is later denied through the normal reimbursement process, Scott said, then the county will need to repay the money received.

“All of us have a lot of work to do,” Scott said.