Brandon Twp. -The devastating ice storm that hit Oakland County on April 4, cost local governments and services about $17,000, say officials. An expense that may be tough on communities at a time when budgets are already tight.
Following the ice storm that closed businesses, downed power lines and kept public services working 24 hours a day, 50 local municipalities including Brandon Township turned to Lansing for financial help.
The disaster relief funds were turned down by Lansing and now it is up to local governments, and their already strained budgets, to absorb the costs. ‘Brandon Township was a disaster,? said Ron Lapp, Brandon Township supervisor.
‘The governor or the state police just seemed to drop the ball when it came to help, especially in the face of the budget cuts that we’ve had to deal with.?
Local municipal employees spent the first weekend in April combating the disastrous effects from the storm which included expenses to the Brandon Fire Department of $10,000, the Village of Ortonville, $3,000, and Brandon Township $4,000.
When asked who made the ultimate decision to deny the disaster relief funds for Oakland County, Gov. Granholm’s press secretary Liz Boyd said it was a collaborative decision.
‘The State Emergency Management recommended the governor not issue the declaration and she concurred with their recommendation,? said Boyd.
State Police Emergency Management, Public Affairs officer Mark Wesley said the state police recommended to refuse because the numbers were not provided from Oakland County.
‘The county numbers failed to meet the criteria for the threat of public health and safety,? said Wesley.
‘Residents are unhappy and that’s understandable, but looking at it from an emergency management perspective the reporting of numbers, by the county, did not meet the criteria for assistance,? he said.
Further, Wesley said the disaster act is not to provide financial reimbursement, and based on the county numbers the only hardship was financial.
Disaster relief fund criteria, mandates that within 72 hours after a disaster, cities, townships, and villages must submit an initial damage assessment to the county emergency response division.
Michael Sturm, Administrator for the Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness department said the 72 hour requirement was met with an initially high figure.
‘We had to compile the figures of 50 communities within 72 hours,? said Sturm.
‘Human nature tends to over estimate. It’s difficult to assess the dollar value and the impact. ?
‘We determined the terms of damage to community as of April 14, the actual clean up may be higher than the $2.1 million, but could be closer to the $4 million,? he said.
Wesley said the county originally requested more than $66 million and after state appointed disaster application assistance personnel worked with Oakland County officials, the relief figure went down to $2.2 million, however the application partnership did not guarantee approval.
Sturm said the members of the State Police worked with county officials in accordance with what criteria was desired for damage assessments.
‘We did what we were supposed to do,? said Sturm.
‘They responded in generic terms, for whatever reason.?
‘If they (state emergency management division) don’t think that was an emergency they should bring Granholm here and let her see for herself,? said Sturm.’A lot of money was spent over this and the $30,000 relief is a substantial amount in a budget,? he said.
‘Frankly, Lansing is failing to realize that.?