When heavy storms hit the village of Altamont last spring, Public Works Superintendent Timothy McIntyre almost immediately started thinking of how the village could rebuild and clean up the damage.
McIntyre decided to look into funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and it paid off. After applying for a grant, the village was awarded the full amount of assessed damage, at almost $73,000.
Mayor James Gaughan said the village is very fortunate.
We were chosen out of eight other municipalities. We are grateful for the assistance and are pleased we will be able to clean up the neighborhoods most impacted by the storms, said Gaughan.
The flood damage includes a 250-foot section of the stream along the east side of Brandle Road between Van Evera Drive and Arlington Street, the most heavily affected areas.
Other areas needing renovation include a damaged timber headwall that passes through a stream under Brandle Road. A 100-foot section of stream at the north side of Park Street will also be restored because of heavy erosion.
`When severe storms came through in April of this year, raising water levels and overtopped drainage ways resulted in stream bank erosion as well as the deposition of sediment with in the stream channels,` said McIntyre.
McIntyre said village emergency services were very active during the storm, assisting village residents pumping out basements, and providing other services associated with the flooding. The village applied to FEMA to offset the added expense of providing these services, and restoring drainage ways that were damaged as a result of the flooding.
`I am pleased that we were able to demonstrate to FEMA that the extraordinary flooding we experienced this past spring, and the tens of thousands of dollars in damage that was caused is worthy of receiving federal assistance` said Gaughan.
McIntyre, who also is part of the comprehensive planning committee, said this incident is an example of how the governing bodies in Altamont and the residents came together during a crisis. He said that the use of emergency services was listed as strength of the village during the survey process of the comprehensive plan. He also said that applying for the aid was a simple process.
`There are a lot of helpful grants out there. We simply assessed the damage, made some phone calls, and had the county take a good look at the properties in need of help,` said McIntyre.
A total of five projects will be completed as a result of the grant money. Work is expected to begin shortly, with two projects to be finished within the next 18 months, as per the FEMA guidelines.
`It is a relief to get the news that village of Altamont taxpayers will not have to shoulder the entire bill for dealing with this natural disaster,` McIntyre said.
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