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FEMA cleanup money arrives

JANESVILLE — Cleanup takes money, and Rock County’s money has arrived.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Doyle announced that 13 more counties were eligible for federal disaster assistance for debris removal, cleanup and repairing and replacing public facilities.

Jefferson, Rock, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Juneau, Kenosha, Marquette, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha counties were added to the list on Wednesday.

Monroe, Adams, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Iowa, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Richland, Sauk, Vernon and Winnebago counties were declared eligible in June.

That brings to 27 the number of Wisconsin counties named in the federal disaster declaration.

Under the public assistance program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide reimbursement to local and state agencies and certain private nonprofit agencies for at least 75 percent of total eligible costs.

On June 18, the county sent Wisconsin Emergency Management a report estimating $10.3 million in public damage. The damage includes the Rock Koshkonong Lake District and Consolidated Koshkonong Sanitary District, parts of which fall outside of Rock County.

The city of Janesville claimed $9.9 million of the total. That does not include overtime for police officers, estimated at $31,200 for 589 hours worked between June 14 and 23, administrative analyst Peter Riggs told the Gazette last month.

Since then, additional overtime hours have been added to that total.

The $9.9 million figure represents the worst-case scenario that assumes the city has to replace everything underwater, Sheiffer said in June.

Realistically, he thinks the cost will be more like $2 million or $3 million.

Local officials said they hadn’t been worried about getting approval for public infrastructure monies.

The minimum threshold for assistance is $3.11 in recovery costs per capita. The county is at $60 in costs per capita, said Phil Boutwell, assistant county administrator.