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County discusses hiring a FEMA specialist and temporary grant firm to handle intense disaster paperwork
Summary
With the county’s grant coordinator leaving Sept. 30 and a new large disaster grant underway, commissioners weighed contracting a firm (e.g., GrantWorks) or hiring a FEMA-specific specialist and overlapping hires to maintain continuity; staff recommended budgeting for both interim contractor support and a grant manager position.
Kendall County commissioners spent substantial time on July 30 discussing how to staff the growing volume of grant work tied to recent flood events and the CDBG-MIT award. Jennifer Forbes and county staff outlined the risks of losing institutional knowledge when the current grant coordinator departs Sept. 30, and said the county must either (a) contract an experienced firm to get the FEMA and CDBG work started, or (b) recruit an experienced grant manager with FEMA credentials and budget overlap so nothing is dropped.
Staff suggested a three-part approach: budget roughly $115,000 to cover a firm’s portion of CDBG-MIT grant administration (the 8% contract-allowed administration), set aside $150,000–$200,000 for an interim FEMA specialist to manage immediate disaster accounting, and include funding in the FY27 personnel budget for a permanent grant manager (with recruitment/posting to begin after job description approval). ‘‘The FEMA stuff, you'll start the process, but you won't start doing what they call work orders… it's daily,’’ a grant expert told the court, underscoring the heavy administrative load and need for specialized experience. Commissioners asked staff to contact TDM for referrals and to prepare procurement steps for hiring a firm if needed.
