The Porter County Council spent a large portion of its meeting Tuesday evening focusing on the aftermath of the Aug. 11 derecho that swept through the region.
Council President Andy Vasquez, D-4th, said the damage was more severe in the northern half of the county. “We thank the residents for understanding the necessary delays,” he said of recovery efforts complicated by trees entangled with downed power lines.
Porter County’s Executive Director of Development & Storm Water Management Mike Jabo told the council the storm water manager and Highway Superintendent Jim Polarek recently went up in the Lake County Sheriff’s Department helicopter to survey the damage to northern Porter County and “it was far worse than we thought.”
The Board of Commissioners is expected to come out with a statement in the coming days on the cleanup plan.
Because the county’s compost sites are nearing capacity and cannot accept more debris, plans are being made for alternate arrangements. Jabo said the scope of work will be planned out in the next few weeks.
He said clean-up will require hiring a contractor to remove debris and tracking it to get money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “You have to track it cradle to grave,” he explained of the debris. “We want to get 75 cents on the dollar for every dollar invested.”
Councilman Andy Bozak, R-At-Large, said he’s been getting a lot of questions on whether the county will be collecting debris.
Council Vice President Red Stone, R-1st, informed the council he asked Porter County Recycling and Waste Reduction District Executive Director Keri Marrs Barron how much money her department needs to reopen the compost sites. She told him it would cost around $750,000 to have an outside contractor come in and haul away the current compost.
Stone suggested the Porter County Foundation, comprised of the 10 members of the combined Council and Board of Commissioners, consider taking money out of foundation coffers to assist local municipalities in storm clean-up.
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“They’re going to be signing big contracts for removal and they’re going to be stuck with a cash flow problem,” he said.
Porter County Assessor Sue Neff spoke at the end of the meeting in her effort to get the word out that people with structural damage to their homes can submit a Form 137R to request a reassessment of their damaged property and possibly lower next year’s tax bill. The form can be found on the front page of the assessor’s website.
Councilman Mike Brickner, R-At-Large, took a moment to praise the county’s departments and leadership, particularly facilities, highway, EMA, and the sheriff’s office.
“Sometimes it’s easy to criticize and be negative. People don’t realize what is going on behind the scenes,” he said. “I think there was a lot more positive work that was done rather than areas for improvement.”
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.