County considers extending building fee waiver
NORWICH – A temporary waiver of building inspection fees that followed on the heels of last month’s floods could be extended.
Members of the Chenango County Public Health Department made the request at a meeting of the Safety & Rules Committee last week. After a review of flood-related work and a discussion of federal funds for emergency assistance, the subcommittee forwarded a measure to the full Board of Supervisors that would extend the waiver to Oct. 31.
The previous suspension, and that of tipping fees at the county landfill, was to end July 26 but gave the chairman of the board permission to extend them to Aug. 14.
“We don’t expect assistance from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) until at least Sept. 30th,” Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Bates said. Individuals whose homes were lost or severely damaged could have received emergency assistance from New York State and FEMA already, but “they won’t be ready to rebuild in 60 days,” he added.
“It will turn cold soon,” department Director Marcus Flindt said.
Approximately 750 structures in Chenango county have been assessed since the rain storms in late June. Bates estimates more than 200 received heavy damage and 80 were destroyed. “A lot more are turning into ‘destroyed’ because people are abandoning them when it costs too much to repair,” he pointed out.
Moreover, code officials must review outdated flood plane maps before determining if individuals are even permitted to rebuild. “FEMA recommends rebuilding a foot above it now,” Eric Depperman, administrative services officer, said.
Committee member David C. Law, R-Norwich, said he had visited several townspeople recently who told him their properties had been inspected by the county and that Codes would be handling their FEMA paperwork.
“Many of them were under the impression that you guys had done everything about FEMA,” he said. “I told them they needed to contact FEMA directly.”
Bates said, “We tell FEMA about destroyed and majorly damaged properties. People needing more than that initial emergency money need to call FEMA and give details and provide paperwork to get more.”
“We are still in the assessment stage of major damages. We haven’t gotten to the minors yet,” he added.
Committee Vice-Chairman Janice O’Shea, R-Coventry, asked how the department identifies flood-related damage from other damage.
Flindt said New York’s Code Enforcement Disaster Assistance Response (CEDAR) teams inspected 640 structures in the immediate days after the storms and Chenango County has inspected 100 additional ones since then. Those initial forms are being collated against forms coming in now.
CEDAR did not do inspections in the towns of McDonough, Oxford and Sherburne.
“We are trying to work with people but new problems do arise every day,” Bates said.
Following the meeting, Town of Columbus Supervisor George Coates said he was very concerned about the large number of individuals who need new furnaces and electrical panels. “They can’t wait on money from FEMA for these things, but they don’t have the money either,” he said, adding that his constituents are “all pretty paranoid of the past history FEMA has (with late or no payments).”
“I think we’ve fallen off their radar screen because we don’t have the population nor the political base,” he said.
Members of the Chenango County Public Health Department made the request at a meeting of the Safety & Rules Committee last week. After a review of flood-related work and a discussion of federal funds for emergency assistance, the subcommittee forwarded a measure to the full Board of Supervisors that would extend the waiver to Oct. 31.
The previous suspension, and that of tipping fees at the county landfill, was to end July 26 but gave the chairman of the board permission to extend them to Aug. 14.
“We don’t expect assistance from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) until at least Sept. 30th,” Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Bates said. Individuals whose homes were lost or severely damaged could have received emergency assistance from New York State and FEMA already, but “they won’t be ready to rebuild in 60 days,” he added.
“It will turn cold soon,” department Director Marcus Flindt said.
Approximately 750 structures in Chenango county have been assessed since the rain storms in late June. Bates estimates more than 200 received heavy damage and 80 were destroyed. “A lot more are turning into ‘destroyed’ because people are abandoning them when it costs too much to repair,” he pointed out.
Moreover, code officials must review outdated flood plane maps before determining if individuals are even permitted to rebuild. “FEMA recommends rebuilding a foot above it now,” Eric Depperman, administrative services officer, said.
Committee member David C. Law, R-Norwich, said he had visited several townspeople recently who told him their properties had been inspected by the county and that Codes would be handling their FEMA paperwork.
“Many of them were under the impression that you guys had done everything about FEMA,” he said. “I told them they needed to contact FEMA directly.”
Bates said, “We tell FEMA about destroyed and majorly damaged properties. People needing more than that initial emergency money need to call FEMA and give details and provide paperwork to get more.”
“We are still in the assessment stage of major damages. We haven’t gotten to the minors yet,” he added.
Committee Vice-Chairman Janice O’Shea, R-Coventry, asked how the department identifies flood-related damage from other damage.
Flindt said New York’s Code Enforcement Disaster Assistance Response (CEDAR) teams inspected 640 structures in the immediate days after the storms and Chenango County has inspected 100 additional ones since then. Those initial forms are being collated against forms coming in now.
CEDAR did not do inspections in the towns of McDonough, Oxford and Sherburne.
“We are trying to work with people but new problems do arise every day,” Bates said.
Following the meeting, Town of Columbus Supervisor George Coates said he was very concerned about the large number of individuals who need new furnaces and electrical panels. “They can’t wait on money from FEMA for these things, but they don’t have the money either,” he said, adding that his constituents are “all pretty paranoid of the past history FEMA has (with late or no payments).”
“I think we’ve fallen off their radar screen because we don’t have the population nor the political base,” he said.
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