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Department of
Reference: City of Brighton Disaster Declaration and Process Update
To: Mayor Richard N. McLean and Members of City Council
Through: Manuel Esquibel, City Manager
Prepared By: Stephanie Hackett, Police Department/ Emergency Management
Date Prepared: 7.28.2015
PURPOSE
To Update City Council on the local Disaster Declaration, its purpose and the process moving forward
BACKGROUND
The State of Colorado has received record rainfall over the spring of 2015, resulting in several local and county level disaster declarations, amounting to the threshold levels required for the State to request a presidential declaration on July 7, 2015. Currently, there are eleven (11) counties included in the presidential declaration. The time period covered in the state declaration is May 4, 2015 to June 16, 2015.
On the weekend of June 5, 2015 City of Brighton Utilities Department began to notice and document severe damage in areas of Ken Mitchell Park along the S. Platte review due to high volumes of water and record rainfall amounts occurring both within the City of Brighton and upstream of the damage area. Damages caused by the additional volume of water have continued since the weekend of June 5th and as much of the infrastructure remains under water, assessments are ongoing and incomplete.
Preliminary assessments put damage estimates at Ken Mitchell Park in Brighton at approximately (one million dollars) $1,000,000. Combined with damages sustained by the City of Thornton to their infrastructure, the total combined estimates are large enough to allow Adams County to declare a disaster, which initiates the process of bringing FEMA to Adams County to preform preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) and determine if they will accept Adams County into the aforementioned State declaration allowing applicants within Adams County to apply for Public Assistance (PA) funding to preform permanent repair/recovery/mitigation work to damage at Ken Mitchell Park.
CRITERIA BY WHICH COUNCIL MUST CONSIDER THE ITEM
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact associated with the July 2015 City of Brighton Disaster Declaration.
Although, failure to have done so would have resulted in the inability to pursue a county level declaration and would prevent the opportunity to participate in preliminary damage assessments (PDA) in coordination with FEMA to determine if Adams County applicants will be eligible for public assistance (PA).
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
ATTACHMENTS
Handouts will be provided August 4th, 2015 to reflect the updates available after participation in the Initial FEMA Briefing and preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) taking place on Aug 4th 2015.