Mayor Bob Morris said Thursday that the city had received two checks from FEMA totaling $148,000 for Gustav costs.
The city received an initial payment last week of $1,000.
The total of $149,000 covers the city’s actual clean-up expenses.
Becky Hill, assistant city treasurer and FEMA coordinator, said about $50,000 more is in the pipeline. Part of that is to cover Fire and Police expense related to the storm.
“Part of the $50,000 we wouldn’t be getting without participating in the FEMA debris pilot program,” Morris said.
Asked what it might be used for, the mayor initially quipped he and "The Sham-wow" might take a trip, then quickly said it will be used to pay for the walking park overlay.
"The Mayor" (apparently Morris) and "The Sham-wow" (apparently Alderwoman and Morris nemisis Chawana Fontenot) are characters in "As the Council Turns", a radio station parody of city government and city officials.
He added that the payments to the city “are a tribute to the work of Becky Hill, who despite the character assassination when she took the job did it and did it well.”
Morris noted it was reported this week that St. Landry Parish had not yet filed its Gustav claims with FEMA while the city has already received payments.
“Despite all the false and defamatory things that were said about me and my administration when we decided to do this on our own rather than wait for the parish, we have been paid and will actually be paid more than we spent,” Morris said.
When Morris decided to undertake debris removal without joining the parish consortium, some opponents raised questions about the cost and whether the administration could properly navigate the route to FEMA reimbursement.
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