Lincoln County approves emergency contract with ER Assist to manage FEMA reimbursement

Lincoln County commissioners voted at an emergency session to move forward with a general agreement with ER Assist, Inc. and to approve a disaster response and recovery services task order to begin managing FEMA public assistance claims tied to recent flood and wind events.

The contract provides the county with an outside applicant-agent and project-management service to coordinate paperwork, contractor oversight and FEMA site inspections. Laurel Matula, who identified herself as representing ERS, described the firm as a “disaster grant management company” that typically acts as the applicant agent and handles most FEMA meetings and documentation. “We would handle most of the meetings with FEMA. You would give us delegation of authority to talk to them,” Matula said.

Why it matters: county officials said they lack in-house capacity and wanted a contractor to reduce administrative burden and maximize reimbursement. Meeting materials and the presenter described the contractor’s costs as eligible under a federal management-cost grant and, as stated in the meeting, part of a federal reimbursement framework the presenter summarized as a “100% federal share” for management costs (described by the presenter as a Category Z management-cost grant).

Key details: the general agreement discussed during the session was described as an hourly contract with a not-to-exceed figure of $80,000; staff emphasized the county can terminate work at any time. Commissioners also approved a task order for disaster response and recovery services listed at not to exceed $70,000 to begin handling public-assistance-eligible projects such as roads and bridges, debris removal and emergency protective measures. The board held, for later consideration, a $5,000 hazard-mitigation task order and other smaller items.

State input and mitigation recommendation: Jake Ganu, identified as chief of recovery for the State of Montana, told commissioners the state often supports eligible Section 406 mitigation projects and recommended looking at vulnerable infrastructure such as the Lauren Reservoir near the city of Libby. “As part of the PA task order, this team can help with any eligible 406 mitigation activities to build it back better than it was before the incident happened,” Ganu said.

Operational details: the contractor estimated intensive in-person work over the first 30 days and described staffing by document specialists (cited in the meeting at $40 an hour) and higher-rate supervisory staff (rates discussed up to $125 an hour, taken from a state master service agreement as a benchmark for reasonableness). The contractor advised that if the county’s needs exceed the contract cap, the county could issue an RFP later as recovery transitions from response to longer-term recovery.

Board action and next steps: the transcript records a motion and second to approve the general agreement and the disaster response task order; the voice vote produced at least one recorded opposition, but the meeting transcript does not include a roll-call tally. The chair said the county will proceed with the general contract and a single task order and will return to commissioners if additional task orders or a broader procurement action are required. Staff also noted it will clarify contract language to reference the December 2025 weather events and finalize required vendor paperwork.

Other business: staff reported historical documentation confirming Keeler Bridge is county-owned and therefore eligible for county-managed recovery work; Ross Creek bridge was identified as Forest Service-owned.

The board adjourned the emergency session after completing the action items and public comment (no members of the public spoke on the contract in the meeting).