Eddy County is transferring more than $15 million in budget to full federal emergency control road (FEMA) projects caused by primary flooding nearly a decade ago.
The cash transfer from the county general fund to the FEMA account was approved Tuesday through the Eddy County Board of Commissioners.
Eddy County Chief Financial Director Roberta Smith said the budget will be used for the remaining 17 road sites and the appliance project.
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At the end of last year, Smith said the county had submitted 17 individual bids for FEMA projects and that the move coincided with the roadworks and appliance project.
He stated that the total cost of FEMA projects $15. 4 million.
Eddy County Director of Public Works Jason Burns said feMA’s account contained more than $4 million prior to the transfer. He said the additional allowed the county to complete the work.
He said the paintings had stagnated due to a lack of communication between FEMA, Eddy County and the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Now that everyone has communicated, Burns said the projects are moving forward and that the projects encompass an Eddy County giant.
“We have some little ones east of Artesia. We have some bigger ones south of Carlsbad. Five years ago, that’s when everything flooded and sank. We had an Eagle Draw exit near Hope. We had all the big and all South Carlsbad in Dark Canyon and McKittrick (Canyon) and everything is going south. It’s still part of the attempt to put them back in place,” he said.
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On Friday morning, Burns said the meetings were taking positions on some of the smaller projects and that paintings on some of the larger projects could begin in February or March.
“Before we allow the entrepreneur to start, we want to get some FEMA approvals. We want to send you approval of some of our procedures and procedures. They have to approve all our purchases that we have used on them and point out before we can pass and that’s why the process takes a little longer,” he said.
Burns said the paintings will be made through contractors at Eddy County Constructors Inc. , J
You can contact Mike Smith at 575-628-5546 or email MSmith@currentargus. com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.