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Story County EMC to form committee to review disaster fund after SCEMA cautions on FEMA limits
Summary
SCEMA staff told the commission there is no state or federal requirement to maintain a disaster fund and that FEMA reimbursements are limited to overtime for immediate life‑safety (Category A & B); FEMA will not reimburse purchased physical items. The commission named a three‑person committee to review fund policies and amounts.
At the April 15 meeting, SCEMA staff provided an overview of the disaster fund and the limits of outside reimbursement. Melissa Spencer told the commission there is no state or federal requirement for the Commission to maintain a disaster fund and that FEMA reimbursement is generally limited to overtime for Category A and B immediate life‑safety responses; FEMA will not reimburse a commission for purchased physical items.
Spencer said the fund has not been used for state‑ or federal‑declared disasters but has been used locally — for example, to pay a hazardous material response after an Ames train derailment and to cover crowd‑control costs for the sheriff’s office; those costs were repaid to the fund after the responses. To ensure the county’s approach and the fund amount remain appropriate, Spencer recommended forming a review committee.
Commission volunteers named for that committee were Kurtis Bower, Jackie Sapp and Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald; Spencer will coordinate and schedule committee meetings. The committee’s charge, timeline and reporting requirements were not specified during the meeting record; Spencer said she would set up the meetings.
No formal vote was recorded for creation of the committee; the change was recorded as staff direction and volunteer agreement.
