Wilson

At a Monday, Jan. 30 special called fiscal court meeting, County Attorney Lee Wilson (center) suggested the option of giving Lyon County Judge-Executive Jaime Green (right) authority to work with the FEMA agent up to a set spending cap. This way the county could explore the option of appeal for a road repair project, while still making sure it would see a financial return if it won. 

 ABIGAIL WRIGHT | Herald Ledger

There was a special called Lyon County Fiscal Court meeting on Monday, Jan. 30, which included approval for the release of funds on a new salt box purchase and review of a FEMA appeal.

Lyon County Judge-Executive Jaime Green informed the fiscal court that the salt box it had approved the purchase of at the last fiscal court meeting had been delivered and was operational. While there was a delivery fee attached, this was still the cheaper of the two bids the fiscal court had received. The total cost was $12,778.25. The fiscal court approved the purchase.

The county is also planning on appealing a denial by FEMA of reimbursement for a road repair project. The total potential reimbursement is $341,000, but Green and County Attorney Lee Wilson said it’s not expecting to get the full amount. However, it may get partial reimbursement.

The decision on whether or not to appeal FEMA’s rejection needed to be made soon, as the deadline for the first round of appeals is Feb. 13. Green said she believes the reason for the county not getting approved is probably an issue with documentation. She has talked to other counties and cities, and many are also appealing.

The information from FEMA let the county know that FEMA would only be reimbursing a percentage of the total possible amount it was paying the FEMA agent, and that would only be in the instance that it won the appeal.

Originally, the fiscal court was going to authorize Green to have the agent complete work on the appeal up to the amount of $$6,800, which is 2% of the total possible reimbursement. Green got in contact with the agent during the meeting and was told that the total projected cost for creating the appeal would be roughly $15,000, or 5% of the total cost.

After some discussion, magistrates agreed the potential gain was greater than the amount it risked losing, Wilson said that if it received funding for just one road, it would still be gaining money. The fiscal court approved Green to have the agent create an appeal for FEMA and spend up to $15,000.