Fort Scott receives funding to repair damages from storms

The City of Fort Scott has been getting help from FEMA to fix some damages caused by summer storms.

According to Fort Scott Director of Finance Susan Brown, the city is receiving funding to help offset the costs of damages caused by excessive flooding over the spring and summer months.

Six of the nine projects the city is receiving funding for are considered small projects, according to Brown. She said the city's share of the cost is mostly man-hours and use of equipment. These small projects, which have already been completed include cleaning up debris, and repairing roads.

"A lot of the smaller project ... were going to be done whether they came in and helped us or not," Brown said. "Most of these have to be complete."

FEMA is funding 75 percent of the damages while the state is funding 10 percent, leaving the city with the remaining 15 percent which could come from the city's General Fund, according to Brown. The following is a breakdown of the projects requested and approved followed by the cost of the project. (Costs are listed in order of total cost - state's share - FEMA's share - city's share)

* Fisher Park along Main Street - $5,952 - $595 - $4,464 - $892

* Emergency Services - $5,801 - $580 - $4,351 - $870

* Alleys & Roads - $18,250 - $1,825 - $13,688 - $2,737

* Debris City Wide - $16,754 - $1,675 - $12,565 - $2,513

* 1st & Franklin - $80,850 - $8,050 - $60,637 - $12,127

* Public Safety Storage Facility - $8,919 - $892 - $6,689 - $1,337

* Horton & 18th Street by FSCC - $329,185 - $32,918 - $246,888 - $49,377

* 8th & Main Street Collapse - $377,338 - $37,733 - $283,003 - $56,600

* Gunn Park - Spillway - $71,740 - $7,174 - $53,805 - $10,761

Brown said FEMA normally will provide funding to repair damaged to the original condition, however the spillway at Gunn Park will be completely reconstructed. After being evaluated a second time, FEMA determined the project to be an "improved project" and is providing an additional $70,000.

"That project would have been hard to bring back to it's original state because it was hand laid rock," Brown said.

The bigger projects will be given 18 months to be completed once the money is awarded, according to Brown. She said the next step for the projects in which funding has been received is to be engineered according to FEMA guidelines then go to out for bids.

Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers said the majority of the flood damage came from runoff water. He said the ground was saturated could not absorb the steady rains.

"That's where we ran into problem, especially in Fort Scott," Jeffers said. "It wasn't necessarily that we had excessive amounts (of rain), it was just the ground wouldn't absorb it."