Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Disaster Recovery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Levelland staff reports about $14 million in FEMA individual assistance and multiple municipal reimbursement projects after May 29 storm
Summary
Emergency-management staff told council several FEMA projects are obligated and the private-side individual assistance tally sits near $14 million. Staff described insurance appeals, a disputed fire-station roof claim with TML, and ongoing debris, tower and building reimbursement work.
City emergency-management and public-works staff briefed the council on federal disaster reimbursements and recovery work following the May 29 wind event. Staff said multiple public-project applications have been submitted to FEMA; five of eight municipal projects were listed as obligated and private-side individual assistance totaled about $14 million in validated claims.
Cole Kirkland, the staff presenter on disaster recovery, walked council through the portfolio of FEMA applications: debris removal; vehicle deductibles for city fleet; tower repairs and mitigation; building repairs for the water department; emergency protective measures (overtime and other immediate response costs); and donated resources (volunteer hours) used as in-kind match. He said several small projects were already obligated and reimbursements should start arriving soon.
Kirkland reported the individual-assistance figure — private repair and housing assistance on the individual side — had increased from earlier estimates to about $14 million, with roughly 1,577 applications submitted and approximately 1,549 validated so far. He said the local long-term recovery group, Love Levelland, has been acting as fiscal agent for donated funds; the group had raised $55,500 locally and had distributed some funds to approved households.
On insurance matters, staff described an appeal to the Texas Municipal League intergovernmental risk pool (TML IRP) after TML denied coverage for part of the fire-station roof. Staff said TML’s denial referenced an earlier 2022 hail notice; the city is seeking documentation and has engaged consultants to clarify whether isolated unrepaired areas should render the entire roof ineligible. Staff said the city also is preparing contractor and consultant responses for peer review on tower repairs and other FEMA submittals.
Council members asked for timelines and were told obligated projects should begin to result in reimbursements once terms-and-conditions paperwork completes; staff said they would continue appeals, retain a roofing consultant for the TML appeal, and maintain public updates on reimbursements and long-term-recovery allocations.
