Area localities are beginning to see federal aid trickle in to fix damage from December’s nasty winter storm that dumped more than 20 inches of snow on Charlottesville within roughly two days.
Albemarle County had, as of last week, been allocated more than $75,000 in public assistance funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to officials, and the amount could continue to increase as storm-related costs are finalized. Other localities in Central Virginia have also been set aside initial amounts: Orange, Greene and Nelson counties have been given $41,905, $7,944 and $7,723, respectively.
FEMA announced last week that Virginia would be getting close to $6.4 million in federal public assistance for the uncharacteristically severe December snowstorm. The money will allow for the repair or replacement of damaged facilities.
Charlottesville, on the other hand, has not yet been allocated any federal funding for the late December storm that walloped the area. Bernard Wray, the city’s finance director, said the city government was still working with FEMA on project reports to determine how much it might get.
“Right now there’s no timetable we’ve set with them,” FEMA spokesman Mike Sweet said.
Wray said the city was hoping to get between $100,000 and $130,000 in federal public assistance funding for the winter’s first storm. The storm could feasibly be more costly for the city than for other localities because the Virginia Department of Transportation does not maintain city roads and did not do clearing after the inclement weather.
Albemarle and other counties’ clearing and road repairs are done by VDOT, which results in the localities not incurring the costs. County spokeswoman Lee Catlin said its costs were “way below the city” for that reason, with the county’s tab estimated to be around $150,000.
Wray said the city probably spent around $350,000 for the first December storm. But for the entire winter, Charlottesville’s storm-related costs exceeded $2 million, much of which will likely be taken from the city’s own budget.
The City Council has already agreed to allocate more than $1 million for expenses related to snow removal, employee overtime payments and for lost revenue from the golf course and the transit system. There is also another $1 million that the city will need to spend for street repairs because of weather damage.
That money has not yet been set aside, but Wray said any funding would likely be taken out of a contingency in the city’s capital projects budget. Any federal money that comes in will replenish the account.
“We haven’t done the roads yet,” said city public works program coordinator Chad Thorne. “We don’t have the money.”
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