FEMA approves 70 local requests for assistance, office open until Friday

At Monday morning’s regular county commission meeting, EMA director Steve Carver reported that 580 Coffee County residents have filed complaints at the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has been open locally as a result of damage sustained from Hurricane Irma. Of those, 70 have been approved.

Carver stated that the total amount of funds FEMA has approved in these cases is in excess of $80,000. Housing assistance claims total $62,888 while other claims, such as personal property and medical needs, accounts for $18,366.80.

The local FEMA center will remain open until Friday.

In other news, the commission approved an intergovernmental agreement with the cities of Ambrose, Broxton, and Nicholls to manage their road re-surfacing and paving projects. This is a regular agreement the county signs with these cities to assist them with the road projects. The county gets 2 ½ percent of the construction costs, which primarily goes to reimburse the county road department. The bids for these projects will be awarded in November.

The county also approved three appointments to the Atkinson County-Coffee County Joint Development Authority. Those appointments are Jimmy Kitchens, Dr. Roland Cummings, and Andrea Taylor.