Montpelier staff outline $26 million-plus flood recovery effort and FEMA timeline

Montpelier city staff updated the City Council on July 23 on federal disaster-recovery work after July 2023 and July 2024 floods, describing project scope, current reimbursements and interim financing. The update matters because the city said preliminary estimates have risen from about $11 million to more than $26 million for the July 2023 event, creating a large reimbursement and cash‑flow task while FEMA reviews project documentation and obligates funding. City staff member Sarah, who is managing the FEMA project submissions, told the council that the city submitted a damaged inventory to FEMA for disaster 4720 (July 2023) and disaster 4810 (July 2024) and has consolidated site damages into FEMA projects. "We submitted our damaged inventory list to FEMA back in October '23 that showed 44 impacted sites," Sarah said. She said those sites consolidated into 38 FEMA projects and that 25 projects have been obligated, with most obligated funds remitted to the city through the state. Sarah explained that the estimate of total damages has increased as project-level bids and documentation were completed: "We do believe that estimate of that damage is more in the 26 plus million dollar range as opposed to 11 like we had originally estimated." She added that the city has spent about $3.3 million to date on the event and received about $1.6 million in FEMA reimbursements on obligated projects, plus roughly $910,000 in insurance proceeds, while awaiting additional obligations and remittances. The city is pursuing a multi-pronged financing strategy while FEMA processes packages. Sarah summarized interim sources: a $2,130,000 loan from the Municipal Climate Recovery Fund (at a subsidized 1.3% interest rate for the first million), and an available $6,000,000 flood-recovery line of credit with Community National Bank that the city has not yet drawn on. She said the city is tracking force‑account labor and municipal equipment use to maximize FEMA credit and lower the local match. Sarah described progress on a major alternative procedures project submitted under Section 428 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the "Stafford Act"). She said the package for the City Hall / Fire Department / police / sidewalk project was submitted in March with an engineering report and that staff had been negotiating damage descriptions and dimensions with FEMA inspectors. "Once you sign off on these [damage descriptions] you're locking in that these are your true damages," she said, adding that she was able to sign off after careful review on July 11 so the city could move forward with that 428 alternative procedures approach. Sarah also reviewed FEMA program basics for the council: emergency work (debris removal and protective measures) and permanent work (repair/replacement categories C–G), small-project versus large-project thresholds (one million dollars), and the public‑assistance reimbursement shares that applied to each event (the July 2023 event was 90 percent federally funded statewide; the July 2024 event carried a lower federal share). She cautioned that full closeout could still be years away for the larger 2023 event. Councilors asked about staff time and outside help. Sarah said managing the FEMA effort "has been a full‑time job in its own" in addition to other duties. Asked whether the city should have hired a consultant earlier, she said "In hindsight...in an event that is the size...hire a consultant immediately" but explained that at the time the city opted to do much of the work in‑house to preserve limited funds; she said a consultant would now be recommended for an event of this scale. Where the money stands: Sarah provided a project-level summary in the meeting packet. She said expenses to date were roughly $3.3 million, FEMA reimbursements received roughly $1.6 million, insurance proceeds roughly $910,000 (with about $60,000 more arriving), and the $2.13 million recovery fund loan is currently offsetting cash‑flow needs. Sarah said minimal expenses have been recorded so far for the July 2024 event and that some 2024 damages fell under Federal Highway responsibility and are not FEMA‑eligible. The council and staff distinguished discussion items (project descriptions, FEMA technical steps, financing options) from decisions: no new policy or borrowing action was approved at the July 23 meeting, although staff signaled they will return with specific proposals if the city needs to draw loans or move to construction before firm FEMA offers arrive. Staff said next steps include continuing to submit complete project packets, responding to FEMA questions, and awaiting fixed‑cost offers on section 428 projects; staff will keep the council informed as offers and obligations arrive. Ending: City staff urged patience as FEMA's review continues but said they were pursuing parallel strategies to limit the local share of costs and to maintain cash flow while the federal and state processes proceed.