Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508140050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Gov. George Allen has authorized $800,000 in state funds for four localities. The money will help pay a portion of matching costs for a federal relief program.
The Emergency Watershed Protection Program calls for the federal government to pay 75 percent of claims filed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency by communities such as Rockbridge County. The remaining 25 percent is paid by the state and the locality.
The $800,000 will be transferred to the Department of Emergency Services, which in turn will administer the program to Madison, Greene, Warren and Rockbridge counties. Money will be divided based on the ``local fiscal stress factor,'' or how much each community can afford to pay.
Bob Claytor, Rockbridge County director of fiscal services, said officials in his county do not know how much of the $800,000 will be set aside for Rockbridge. Consequently, they also do not know how much the county will have to provide to complete the 25 percent match.
Claytor was unable to immediately provide an estimate of the cost of repairs for flood damage to public property in Rockbridge.
He said all the money received will have to be used for repairs to public property. The money cannot be used for improvements, such as widening a road that is being repaired.
June's flooding left many streams blocked or diverted by debris. These obstructions often pose a threat of additional flooding. The Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture administers the relief program, which provides the money to repair stream blockages and landslides that pose an immediate threat.
- BY LISA K. GARCIA
by CNB