County haggles over Rita funds...again
State demands documentation before releasing CDBG money
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Jasper County Judge Mark Allen last week told a team from ORCA (Office of Rural Community Affairs) that the county's experience in claiming funds designated to make Jasper whole again felt like rolling the dice.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) representatives "based our whole future on how they felt that day," according to Allen. "We've met resistance all the way."

County officials met once again with representatives of ORCA Feb. 21 in the courthouse annex to go over, once again, the costs incurred by Jasper County during and following Hurricane Rita.

The county was represented by Allen, county auditor Dru Miller and Randy Blanks from grantwriter David Waxman's office.

At stake is almost $2 million in CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) that were approved by the legislature to cover the differences between what FEMA paid and the actual costs incurred.

"We've gone over all this before," said Allen, "and every time we think we're done, they send in a new team and we have to start all over."

Miller said she has sent boxes of documentation to back up claims submitted. In one case, she hand delivered to Austin color-coded itemized worksheets.

ORCA representatives this time were Mary Alice Smith, regional coordinator, Steve Swango, team leader for community development, and Bill Hoppe, outreach specialist for the East Texas Field Office.

Worksheet projects were debated for hours, item by item.

Generators

One element of contention was that the county entered into contracts for 45-day rentals on items such as large generators. FEMA in most cases pro-rated the costs based on the actual number of days that power was out, which was about a month in most of the county. Allen protested that was a hindsight decision on FEMA's part.

In just one example, electric hook-ups and generators for the community center and public shelter were billed at $52,702; FEMA paid only $36,426, leaving a shortfall of $16,276. That type of scenario repeats in line item after line item.

Early predictions from JNEC (Jasper Newton Electric Cooperative) immediately after the storm were that power would be out for six to eight weeks or more; therefore a 45-day contract was a reasonable decision at the time, according to Allen.

"We were advised that all main feed lines in the Co-op were obliterated, five to six thousand poles down," Allen said.

Swango started to say, "I don't want you to think we don't understand. We know the county went through..."

He might have intended to say "hard times," but was cut off by all three county representatives at once saying essentially, "No we don't think you do understand."

"The county was dealing with hundreds of things at one time," Allen said. "The electric situation was just one of many immediate needs."

Swango replied, "We're just making sure that when the inspector general comes in to audit this county, it isn't asked to repay anything."

Miller said, "We understood from Austin this was not going to be a problem."

Swango said, "There's a difference between what FEMA didn't cover and what they would have, but denied."

Allen said the FEMA reps came into the situation late enough that electricity had been restored many places.

Public welfare

Their decisions as to what to pay, and what rates to pay, seemed capricious to Miller. Bills for porta-johns and ambulances that were charged at standard rates that FEMA was approving in New Orleans and in Jefferson County were cut in half when they paid Jasper.

At one point Allen said, "It seems to me the law is black or white, but dealing with FEMA was like dickering with a used car salesman."

Miller said she had a copy of an interoffice FEMAmemo that said they would pay $110 for basic life support services, $160 for advanced life support.

Swango interrupted with, "Make sure you keep that memo."

Allen said FEMA told him they would reimburse 100 percent for life and safety. And yet for the emergency medical station at the Volunteer Fire Department in Buna the county was billed $246,480; FEMA paid $137,280, leaving a $109,199 shortfall.

"We need to get enough documentation together to make us feel comfortable in getting HUD (Housing and Urban Development) to make a final ruling," Smith said.

Blanks said the current drawdown request is for $1.7 million. Miller prepared a box of back-up documentation for each line item of that request, one of many boxes she has prepared before.

The next several hours were spent going over those line items, discussing how to classify each expense. For example, guidelines describe two levels of care: $110 for basic life support and $160 for advanced life support.

EMS Medical Transport billed $341,760; FEMA paid $234,959, leaving a shortfall of $106,800.

Swango asked what services they provided?

Allen replied, "They were on call, actual calls, tasked to assist with evacuation, special needs, nursing homes, a triage field hospital...

"They were exchanging oxygen bottles, treating work crews, taking care of diabetics, providing indigent care and getting people out of the area. Our two small hospitals in Jasper were shut down, and so was Christus St. Elizabeth in Beaumont."

Debris removal

ORCA team members would ask, "How is this flood and drainage?"

Blanks replied, "Depends how you look at it...in the initial grant it was split between three different categories."

Miller said, "We were working with what your office (ORCA) sent us after the first meeting in November... We were told to (get the bills submitted) and worry about it later. Now it's later and this is what we have."

At one point, Miller said contractor Northstar removed 15,000 cubic yards of debris in the first 72 hours.

Allen explained that this wasn't just to tidy things up; people were trapped in their homes by blocked roads. Emergency workers and power crews needed immediate access to assess needs and damages.

"Opening roads so we could get emergency vehicles out was supposed to be covered 100 percent," Miller said.

Allen added that due to the nature of the emergency, (contracting with Northstar) was exempt from the bid process.

"We didn't have sunlight yet and the wind was still blowing when we started and entered into contracts," Allen said. "The storm hit and caused massive damage. I guess we're the pilot project for what happens when a storm hits a heavily forested area."

Yet FEMA reduced the amount paid for equipment and operators, with "no rhyme or reason as to why" according to Miller.

"Northstar submitted backup to show where those rates were charged and paid in Beaumont and elsewhere, " Miller said, but FEMA paid less in Jasper.

The amount billed by Northstar, the largest of several contractors engaged to push roads, was $826,806; FEMA paid $499,506, leaving a shortfall of $327,299. In all cases FEMA paid less than was billed, and less than they were paying elsewhere for the same storm.

"A lot of FEMA's calculations were arbitrary in my opinion," Miller said.

Fuel expenses

Another bone of contention was fuel. Miller said the county brought in fuel from all over, for generators, for push crews, for law enforcement and rescue.

Allen said, "The state was not able to provide it. We're a county government. We don't have a bunch of fuel tankers to go and get it. We were told (by the state) to 'do what you have to do' to get fuel for generators and emergency needs."

Miller said they found themselves in a mire of entanglements. They couldn't pump fuel without electricity and they couldn't get electricity until they got fuel in the generators.

The local fuel drivers could only go south; they were trained and licensed to pick up from a Jefferson County distributor, who was dead in the water from the storm, so outside drivers with the appropriate certifications had to be hired to bring in fuel.

As the day wore on, the ORCAteam began to see that almost everything did, in fact, tie to debris removal.

Generators pumped wells that supplied water to the teams clearing debris. With hospitals closed and no doctor's offices open without electricity, the ambulance teams were the only source of advanced life support both for residents and the debris workers.

The small generators the county purchased remained a sticking point, both because they were purchased rather than rented, and also because some were used at county officials' residences.

Allen said, "This is a rural area. We have to have generators for run well pumps for survival. Here, no electricity means no water for many in the county."

The generators, both purchased and rented, were spread out to water districts, precinct barns, fire halls, shelters and community churches providing services.

Operations or shelter?

They then turned to the operation center/shelter, and ORCA asked, which is it?

"It was a staging area, a shelter, you name it," Allen said. "At one time it looked like a fire ant mound."

When they tried to separate costs for work crews, law enforcement and officials, they found they could not isolate food and shelter expenses for a particular group.

Smith said, "We allow amounts for employee good will. When it's ice and water for the job sites it's the same as hard hats. They need it, and we will allow it as part of debris removal."

On the porta-johns, the Lasso bill was exactly the same rate as was paid in Louisiana and also during the shuttle disaster, yet FEMA paid only a little more than half what was billed.

Hours and hours

Overtime was paid by FEMA for hourly workers, but ORCA said county employees' regular 40 hours could also be billed if they were not engaged in their normal work activity. In other words, if county road crews were ferrying debris removal teams rather than doing roadwork, their straight time can be billed to debris removal.

Miller will have to recalculate and amend requests accordingly, but virtually every county employee from clerks to deputies was engaged in work that can be tied to the emergency rather than their normal duties.

Swango pointed out that Miller can also bill the time she has spent working on these project files. Smith advised Miller to get time sheets and summarize total cost rates and submit extensions

Miller smiled, "I can do that."

Swango said, "This is not a one shot deal here, you can come back with another draw."

General conduct

Swango explained, "These CDBG funds are not allowed to pay for the general conduct of government."

Blanks pointed out the obvious, "This was not general conduct."

Swango agreed, "What I'm seeing is not normal. Food distribution (for instance) is not normal."

The food distribution center for PODs (point of delivery) required security, storage and refrigeration units, generators, laborers and clerical personnel, to name a few expenses.

Miller said, "We documented everything we received, and where it went."

Allen said, "It was an evolutionary process. We did what the state couldn't meet, or in some cases what they suggested we do."

A long day

As the meeting drew to a close after six hours of debate, Swango told Allen, "You can be assured, Judge, we'll do everything we can to support you on this."

About $500,000 was cleared for a drawdown; the remainder will require amendments, answers, reevaluation and resubmission.

Allen said, "It's a start."