Emergency Money Available For Storm Recovery
OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Oconto County is opening up its financial reserves to help out its most storm-impacted towns.
Sheriff Todd Skarban and Emergency Management Director Tim Magnin outlined the county’s response to the July 19th storm during the county’s board meeting Thursday afternoon.
“Being a good farm boy, I threw my chainsaw in the back of my car because I’m not going to need my gun, I’m going to need my chainsaw because I need to go help my guy,” said Skarban.
Skarban’s story of helping a tree-blocked sheriff’s vehicle provided the Oconto County Board a taste of what it was like when storms hit.
The summary led the board to double up a $5,000 grant it was planning to give eight towns to $10,000.
“We have some financial resources where the towns don’t so we thought we at least give them some money to clean up the woods up there,” said Kevin Hamann, the county’s administrative coordinator.
With more than $6 million in its general fund, the county board agreed to a $10,000 grant for the towns of Breed, Bagley, Brazeau, Doty, Lakewood, Mountain, Riverview, and Townsend.
It’s also offering a $50,000 interest-free loan for each town, which would need to be paid back over the next three years.
“It’s all going to be well used,” said Alan Sleeter, who is on the county board and is also the town clerk for Bagley. “There’s a lot, a lot of damage up north.”
Sleeter tells FOX 11 he hopes the grant will cover all of his town’s cleanup costs. However, he realizes other towns aren’t as lucky and will need to take advantage of the county’s loan offer.
“This is a big hit on the local municipalities when you’re limited by levy limits and stuff like this. You can’t go up and tax for this. It will draw their funds down quite a long ways.”
The towns and county are still waiting for words on other federal and state financial assistance they’ve applied for.
While the money would certainly help, many say they are not expecting it. That’s why leaders of the towns say the county’s contribution is vital.
