The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners discussed disaster recovery and other county business at its meeting last week.
Public comment
Page Cash came before the commissioners to discuss disaster recovery needs. Cash said that she came to Mitchell County from Virginia as a volunteer helping with storm cleanup, and she is still seeing roadblocks in the process of getting storm victims new homes.
“I’ve been here since Sept. 29,” Cash said. “There are a lot of people in this county especially that I am still finding that are in really bad shape. … There are elderly people, there are families — low-income poverty families — who are living in homes that are uninhabitable.”
Cash said that the biggest obstacle for many of these people is delays in getting the rubble of their old homes removed so that they can rebuild.
“They’re being told that it’s not going to happen until the middle of June,” she said. “We’ve already missed a lot of prime real estate in rebuilding if we’re not going to be able to be demoing homes until June.”
Cash said that she is currently trying to help 12 families who are struggling.
“They’ve either been denied by insurance or they are unable to navigate the system,” she said. “A lot of the families that I’m serving here cannot read and write. They don’t have internet access, so when the system is set up for them to apply online or sign an e-document, that doesn’t work for these folks.”
County Manager Allen Cook said that the county is waiting on approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin removing destroyed homes from properties.
“We need that money reimbursed and done right, or we can’t cover it with our fund balance,” Cook said. “We need FEMA to say ‘Yes, we will reimburse you.’ So we’re waiting for that to come.”
Cook said that he believes this will resolve itself soon, and the county already has a contractor in place to begin removing the rubble.
“Our DSS (Department of Social Services) is looking at some of the case management aspects,” Cook said. “We do have a lot of programs through there where they can come to help. … In some cases, folks don’t want to give us the information we need … they’re just not ready to provide it.”
Large animal rescue
Commissioner Dale Blevins said that, at a recent Mitchell County Animal Rescue board meeting, he learned that thanks to a gift currently being processed, MCAR may soon have space to keep rescued livestock.
The unnamed donor is willing to loan 106 acres to the animal shelter during his lifetime, and then donate the property upon his death.
“The donor is interested in letting the Mitchell County animal shelter use the land that they may need for large animal rescues, such as horses, donkeys, whatever,” Blevins said.
Mayland president
Commissioner Steve Pitman reported that the Board of Trustees for Mayland Community College has made an offer to a potential new president and is waiting on that person’s response before making the name public.
Economic Development Commission
Commissioner Lee Ellis noted that a new executive director has been appointed by the Mitchell County Economic Development Commission. Bill Slagle is taking on the job.