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Council approves countywide damage-assessment memorandum of understanding
Summary
Waukesha City agreed to a county MOU establishing a countywide damage assessment team to help municipalities document tornado and storm damage; the agreement is voluntary, reciprocal and includes cost-recovery provisions tied to state or federal aid.
The Waukesha City Council voted to enter a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Waukesha County to participate in a countywide damage assessment team, Fire Chief Gottman told the council on May 20.
Chief Gottman said the MOU formalizes a county-managed team to perform rapid damage assessments after major weather events and other incidents that cross municipal boundaries. “Ultimately what this document is, is [a] memorandum of understanding that allows us to enter into a damage assessment team at the county,” he said, noting the MOU is timely after recent tornadoes in the county.
Under the agreement, participating municipalities supply personnel and participate in training; the county oversees team management and deployment. Gottman said about 18 municipalities had already signed and roughly 65 people were part of the team. He said the city generally would be asked to provide personnel and incidental travel costs limited to deployments within the county, and that the agreement includes a mechanism for cost recovery if state, federal or insurance funds reimburse a municipality.
Council members asked how often federal reimbursement is available and whether a municipality could decline to send personnel when the team is activated. Gottman said federal reimbursement depends on whether an incident meets thresholds for a federal disaster declaration and that a municipality may decline to send personnel for a given deployment; the city may also call deployed personnel back if local needs require it.
Alderman Piper described the MOU as a formalization of mutual aid for damage assessment, and moved to approve the item. The motion was seconded and passed. The council recorded the measure as approved and directed staff to proceed with participation in the county team.
