Rutland Herald
By Lola Duffort
Staff Writer | August 19,2016
Staff Writer | August 19,2016
KILLINGTON — Five years after Irene, the town is still wrangling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursements.
Killington has outstanding requests to the federal agency for about $540,000 between two projects: a new bridge it built on Ravine Road, and a box culvert on Stage Road.
The town spent about $425,000 rebuilding the Ravine Road bridge, said Town Manager Deborah Schwartz, and was approved by the federal agency for about $193,000 in reimbursements (after local matching, the town actually received $148,000). The town has filed an appeal with FEMA in hopes of recouping up to an additional $231,000 on that project.
As for Stage Road, the town had received “progress payments” from FEMA — cash provided to towns to help rebuild in the immediate aftermath — but no determination from the federal agency about what its final reimbursement will total. The town has asked for $309,000, Schwartz said.
Select Board Chairwoman Patty McGrath told the public at a Select Board meeting Tuesday that the town had already received from FEMA an amount equal to what it had budgeted. But the extra cash, she said, could help the town close the budget shortfall it has been carrying forward since it spent more than $3 million rebuilding after the 2011 storm.
“Over the years, we have been working diligently to whittle down that budget shortfall,” she said.
The town has solicited help from the office of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Schwartz added, and representatives from Leahy’s office have offered to reach out to the rest of the Vermont congressional delegation.
lola.duffort @rutlandherald.com
Killington has outstanding requests to the federal agency for about $540,000 between two projects: a new bridge it built on Ravine Road, and a box culvert on Stage Road.
The town spent about $425,000 rebuilding the Ravine Road bridge, said Town Manager Deborah Schwartz, and was approved by the federal agency for about $193,000 in reimbursements (after local matching, the town actually received $148,000). The town has filed an appeal with FEMA in hopes of recouping up to an additional $231,000 on that project.
As for Stage Road, the town had received “progress payments” from FEMA — cash provided to towns to help rebuild in the immediate aftermath — but no determination from the federal agency about what its final reimbursement will total. The town has asked for $309,000, Schwartz said.
Select Board Chairwoman Patty McGrath told the public at a Select Board meeting Tuesday that the town had already received from FEMA an amount equal to what it had budgeted. But the extra cash, she said, could help the town close the budget shortfall it has been carrying forward since it spent more than $3 million rebuilding after the 2011 storm.
“Over the years, we have been working diligently to whittle down that budget shortfall,” she said.
The town has solicited help from the office of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Schwartz added, and representatives from Leahy’s office have offered to reach out to the rest of the Vermont congressional delegation.
lola.duffort @rutlandherald.com
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