Carter County commissioners approve multiple disaster‑recovery payments, authorize engineering and school repair contracts

The Carter County Board of Commissioners on April 3 approved a package of payments and purchase orders tied to ongoing storm‑damage recovery, including engineering invoices for three bridge repairs, debris‑removal work and architect fees for school roof and building repairs.

County recovery staff said the county will submit invoices for FEMA "rapid funding" reimbursements once vendor invoices are paid and uploaded to the federal portal; staff estimated reimbursements could arrive in roughly 30 to 45 days but gave no guaranteed date.

The approvals covered routine county operating needs and storm response work. Commissioners voted to pay engineering firms for work on three bridges, to approve multiple debris‑removal and cleanup invoices, to authorize a roof‑repair contract for four locations on Heaton Creek Road and to issue architect contracts for school repairs at several county schools.

"Once those invoices are paid, we'll be able to submit those through the portal and start the reimbursement process," a county recovery staff member said during the meeting. "That'll be the first things that we will be able to get back, and those will come back fairly quickly. I don't have an exact date on how long it will take." The staff member added the county expects the first reimbursements to arrive within about 30 to 45 days.

Mayor Wigbe told the board the county has removed about 40,000 cubic yards of debris so far and is pressing to add eight tributaries to the waterway cleanup contract; the eight tributaries contain an estimated additional 1,900 cubic yards of debris. "As of today, we've cleaned up 40,000 cubic yards of…