Byron's Back! Meeting with Emergency Response Team including Ambulance Director Pat Cassidy and Water Czar Trustee Bob Pear
Town Manager Phil Swanson led what is now a daily morning situation meeting on the post-flood response at 9am at the Town Hall…Here are some notes. This meeting will be broadcast later today, along with last night’s Community Meeting on Woodstock Community Public Access Channel 8 also online at www.wctv8.com.
1. Water…trickling back into your system but use sparingly. If you use too much, folks up the hill won’t have any. We need to broaden our perspective on water use. Also Dreer Spring flowing at 20 gallons a minute at the very end of Golf Avenue Extension. Still should be boiled if used for drinking.
2. As reported earlier Retired Police Chief Kelly is back to serve as a FEMA liaison for the Town of Woodstock and its citizens. His suggestion of the day: Document every single thing including volunteer hours and specify the nature of the work (this is important for folks that are part of coordinated volunteer efforts). Kelly also says to be prepared for different stories from FEMA. His rule of thumb, it’s not set in stone until it’s been confirmed by three people. He said this morning about FEMA, “It will be confusing. Some will be happy. It will upset some and some will be disgusted. He adds that there are formal rules that seem to change but are all supposed to spelled out under something known as the National Incident Command rulings on paperwork. That’s why he’s back to help navigate and clarify the system in order to get the most money back to help the community.
3. A report on the sewer system. While all plants are in operation, there is one problem place on Elm Street near the Elm Street bridge which is a problem and will be addressed today. We are quite fortunate that we have had a sewer system operating throughout the flood crisis.
4. A comprehensive list of numbers to call for assistance from the State of Vermont will soon be posted on the Town of Woodstock website which will be updated today: www.townofwoodstock.org
If anyone who is not currently set up to get Meals on Wheels would like a meal delivered to them, please let the Thompson Senior Center know before 7am and they will do their best to get it to whoever needs a meal:
457-3277
5. If anyone is still without power, please let the Town of Woodstock know: 457-2337. They are working with multiple CVPS crews and their contractors to get all neighborhoods hooked back up with power.
6. North Bridgewater road work to make it minimally passable should be completed today. A bridge still needs to be put in. Curtis Hollow Road has been opened up.
7. Concerning FEMA: The FEMA assistance that can be made available is for individual residents only. There are other emergency funding mechanisms for businesses and farmers. As was explained by Kevin Geiger at a meeting last night — now known as the “Master of Disaster” — the 211 system can only sign up people after an individual disaster declaration has been made. This work is in progress. FEMA was not at the meeting last night and it’s important to note when their representatives are in town today or tomorrow their first priority is to identify how many critically damaged homes and buildings are in our region. A flooded basement is not considered critically damaged. A home hanging over a river would be considered critically damaged.
As we understand it, FEMA’s first work is to do a state-wide assessment of severe crisis homes in order to then get the smaller assistance funding on its way. The Town of Woodstock will have more details on this. But simply put: It’s not just a case of FEMA coming to town and your giving your name. As we all know.
Kevin Geiger at Two-Rivers-Ottauquechee Planning Commission and Byron Kelly, Jr. will be key contacts in the future in helping Woodstock sort through the mess. On funding: The more documentation individuals can make the more money the community might receive and the less taxpayers may have to pay down the line. As Phil Swanson explained, the Federal government can pay 50 percent of disaster costs with 12.5 percent matching expected from the State and another 12.5 percent match coming from us (the taxpayers of Woodstock).
If anyone wants to know about whether they can or cannot do bank work or work in their rivers and streams, you will need to contact the State Rivers Manager — Tom Menees — he has a lot of very good information and is interested in using 30 to 40 years of river science to do things right. While you may want to construct a berm, you may not allowed to do so because, guess what, it will send all the water into your neighbor’s property next time around. More on that by watching the Woodstock Community TV coverage of the meeting later today or online.
See you all at supper…Woodstock Early Bird
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 