CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - Wednesday morning, Governor Mark Gordon, authorized an emergency declaration across the state following Winter Storm Xylia. This afternoon, the Laramie County Commissioners, Wyoming Department of Homeland Security and city leaders met to discuss an emergency declaration in Laramie County. After an almost hour discussion of what the declaration entailed, it was approved by the County Commissioners.
What’s next is the county will write up a resolution, identifying a 48-hour period when the snowstorm had its largest impact. The resolution will then be sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA for approval.
According to officials, the damages in the county have to be at least $357,000 for Laramie County to qualify for aid, Wyoming as a whole has to meet a million dollars in damages to qualify. If the plan is approved, it could help the city pay for damages across the county, overtime for first responders and also expenses for the contractors that have been needed in removing the snow.
“This kind of puts us in a good position or a better position going forward to request resources from the state to mitigate any additional problems that occur” said Laramie County Commissioners Chairman, Gunnar Malm.
Commissioner Malm said the resolution could help recoup costs in the future, but they will continue to work hard to expend the resources necessary to clean and protect the community.
Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins also provided an update on how the city streets are looking with snow removal. Reminding residents that many of the snow plows have been helping clear ways for emergency vehicles the last few days.
“Today we have 26 front end loaders that we’ve been able to hire from the private sector to get out into our city streets.”
Collins said he believes crews have finished all of Western Hills, the Eastern Business Park for Leads and crews should be mostly done south of Interstate-80 on the southside of Cheyenne. He said they hope to have at least a path cleared on every residential street by Friday.
Crews have also been focusing on the downtown area but Collins said the challenge is the snow has to be hauled away after it is plowed. He said they have doubled their efforts and are hoping to have business areas opened soon. For alleyways in residential areas, Collins said plowing the alleys are not a part of the city’s services.
“There are a lot of homeowners associations and private individuals who have hired individuals to plow their alleys so I can just assure you that’s not the city doing that. Those are private individuals and we’ll do our best to keep that information out there for you. So if you want your alley’s plowed I’m sorry we’re probably not going to do that unless we pick your trash up in your alley.”
Collins said he took over as mayor with a focus on the city’s budget and this snowstorm is not going to help it. He said the city is spending more than $50,000 a day on residential streets with the 26 front end loaders working in those areas.
When asked if previous budget cuts had an impact on the city’s response to the snowstorm, Collins said he doesn’t believe it’s had an impact and they just don’t have as many people available in the public works and parks departments.
Laramie County Fire District 1 is still encouraging residents to limit travel as much as possible as crews continue to remove the snow around the city.
Copyright 2021 Wyoming News Now. All rights reserved.
"emergency" - Google News
March 18, 2021 at 06:32AM
https://ift.tt/38Q8QuE
County declares emergency following winter storm, Mayor Collins provides update on city streets - wyomingnewsnow.tv
"emergency" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2VVGGYQ
https://ift.tt/3d7MC6X
emergency
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "County declares emergency following winter storm, Mayor Collins provides update on city streets - wyomingnewsnow.tv"
Post a Comment