Sibley County still finding flood damage, making plans for repairs
2014-07-17
By Dave Pedersen
Correspondent
Sibley County is still picking up the pieces following a major flooding event in mid June, still uncovering damaged areas, clearing the mud off roads and putting up road detour signs.
A flood update report was presented by Public Works Director Tim Becker at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, July 8.
Becker passed out a flood map showing areas that had over $1,000 worth of damage. The Minnesota Department of Transportation asked Becker to create a separate project for each location that is at least a half mile apart.
“We are at county project 3,069 with 69 locations where we have at least $1,000 in damage,” said Becker. “If any roadway is a major collector or higher it will be federal highway staff that will review each site. Major collectors are those on major roadways like CASH 9 and County Road 6. If the road is less than a major collector, it will be FEMA that reviews each site.”
Both FEMA and federal highway will have two separate sets of people come to review the sites. FEMA officials were to meet with Becker Wednesday, July 9. It is not know when federal highway staff will visit.
It was learned Governor Mark Dayton was to be sending a declaration of emergency for the state to President Barack Obama prior to Sibley County site reviews. Sibley will be added to the list.
Becker said FEMA may review both sites because if federal highway does not pay for something, they might do it. Federal highway has a minimal damage allotment of $5,000. If it is less than that, Sibley County will have to pay for it. FEMA has a low limit of $1,000 or it will not pay for it.
Emergency repairs can be completed prior to site reviews. Federal highway gives a process the county needs to follow. If it is a major project of more than $150,000, it has to follow the design, bid and build process. This means the county would have to go through all the environmental impact studies and collect permits.
“We have four sites that will need to be through the design, bid and build process,” said Becker. “Two of the sites are located on County Road 6. Another is the Rush River Park Bridge. Another is on County Road 12 that had mud slides. We need to stabilize slopes and ditch bottoms, covering nearly 6,000 feet of roadway length.”
See the full story in the July 17 edition of the Arlington Enterprise.
Correspondent
Sibley County is still picking up the pieces following a major flooding event in mid June, still uncovering damaged areas, clearing the mud off roads and putting up road detour signs.
A flood update report was presented by Public Works Director Tim Becker at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, July 8.
Becker passed out a flood map showing areas that had over $1,000 worth of damage. The Minnesota Department of Transportation asked Becker to create a separate project for each location that is at least a half mile apart.
“We are at county project 3,069 with 69 locations where we have at least $1,000 in damage,” said Becker. “If any roadway is a major collector or higher it will be federal highway staff that will review each site. Major collectors are those on major roadways like CASH 9 and County Road 6. If the road is less than a major collector, it will be FEMA that reviews each site.”
Both FEMA and federal highway will have two separate sets of people come to review the sites. FEMA officials were to meet with Becker Wednesday, July 9. It is not know when federal highway staff will visit.
It was learned Governor Mark Dayton was to be sending a declaration of emergency for the state to President Barack Obama prior to Sibley County site reviews. Sibley will be added to the list.
Becker said FEMA may review both sites because if federal highway does not pay for something, they might do it. Federal highway has a minimal damage allotment of $5,000. If it is less than that, Sibley County will have to pay for it. FEMA has a low limit of $1,000 or it will not pay for it.
Emergency repairs can be completed prior to site reviews. Federal highway gives a process the county needs to follow. If it is a major project of more than $150,000, it has to follow the design, bid and build process. This means the county would have to go through all the environmental impact studies and collect permits.
“We have four sites that will need to be through the design, bid and build process,” said Becker. “Two of the sites are located on County Road 6. Another is the Rush River Park Bridge. Another is on County Road 12 that had mud slides. We need to stabilize slopes and ditch bottoms, covering nearly 6,000 feet of roadway length.”
See the full story in the July 17 edition of the Arlington Enterprise.
