McLean County officials are pressing forward with flood debris cleanup while waiting for federal reimbursement that Judge-Executive Curtis Dame says would help ease the strain on local project funds.
“We have an individual assistance declaration for the flood, but we have not received confirmation of public assistance to reimburse the counties and cities yet for the cost of these debris removal expenses,” Dame said. “Right now, the county is footing the bill for all these cleanup efforts.”
Dame said the county has been managing the cleanup carefully — using one contractor and one truck — to keep costs under control and ensure proper records if FEMA funding is approved. He estimates expenses could exceed $300,000 before the work is complete.
Without federal help, he said the county will cover the cost out of local reserves, potentially dampening plans for a multi-sport practice facility, a community storm shelter, and a long-planned splash pad at Myer Creek Park.
“That’s cutting into other projects,” Dame said. “Luckily, we didn’t have to borrow money to get through this, but it does reduce what we can do moving forward.”
Dame said the proposed sports facility would double as a safe shelter during severe weather — a need he says has become more urgent as storms grow more frequent.
“My goal is to design a facility with grant funding, if possible, that can provide shelter in severe weather and also serve as a practice space for local sports teams,” he said. “Families here often travel 20 miles or more, three times a week, for sports practice. This would keep them closer to home.”
He said they’ve received plumbing plans for the splash park and have a preliminary rendering and plan to move forward with the project.
Gov. Andy Beshear said communities across Kentucky are in similar positions following repeated natural disasters.
“We have been through so much, 15 federally declared disasters just since I became governor — worst tornadoes, worst flooding, this last round of tornadoes, the third or fourth deadliest one we’ve seen, at least in the last 10 years — [and we’re] not seeing the same help from the federal government,” Beshear said.
“While grateful that we’ve gotten individual assistance, we still have not gotten public assistance from the April or the May storms, and what that means is we could potentially be facing 200-plus million dollars of extra costs,” he said.
Beshear added that Kentuckians continue to help one another recover, but noted that FEMA support remains vital.
“I will say that we need FEMA to continue. FEMA has been imperfect. FEMA needs change. FEMA needs fewer regulations by Congress, but it’s so important to have them, to augment the emergency response,” Beshear said.
Dame said for now, the county is moving forward with debris removal and working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service to identify drainage improvements to help prevent future flooding.
“There was no option. You had to clean it up,” Dame said. “We’re doing what we can to help homeowners and make the county a cleaner, more resilient place going forward.”
