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County weighs cleanup after July 4 storms as volunteer groups pile debris along rights-of-way
Summary
After July 4 storms, volunteer organizations piled storm debris in rights-of-way in Osage City; county staff said cleanup will incur equipment and disposal costs, and state reimbursement is uncertain because the threshold for state disaster assistance has not been met.
Cole County staff told the commission that Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief and other volunteers have been helping homeowners clean up after the July 4 storms but have left piles of debris in rights-of-way that now require county removal.
An emergency-management official told commissioners that the organization and its volunteers are willing to help but that picking up and hauling debris will require equipment use, fuel and disposal costs. "It will cost them man hours and equipment use, to do that... It will be an expense to go pick it up. It will be an expense to haul it to the [county disposal facility]," the official said.
Commissioners asked whether the county could be reimbursed. Staff said reimbursement is possible in some cases but warned that the state damage threshold for a larger disaster declaration had not been met, reducing the likelihood of prompt state reimbursement. One commissioner said: "I would not put your faith in getting reimbursement for this." County staff stressed the importance of documenting hours and costs if reimbursement is later sought.
The commission discussed identifying staging sites for debris to make hauling more efficient and emphasized better coordination with volunteer groups to avoid ad hoc dumping in rights-of-way. No formal motion to authorize a specific cleanup contract or budget appropriation was recorded in the transcript.
Separately, staff reported on a pending reimbursement for a 2024 cybersecurity grant; the transcript contains two different figures: one statement described the reimbursement as "about 250,000 ish," while another noted "the total reimbursement was a 103,000," which commissioners did not reconcile on the record.
