BRIGHTON — City Council at its Aug. 4 regular meeting received an update on Brighton’s local disaster status. The update follows Mayor Dick McLean’s disaster declaration last month regarding an estimated $1 million in infrastructure damage that occurred at Ken Mitchell Lakes.
Emergency management coordinator Stephanie Hackett said city and county officials have met with representatives from FEMA for an initial briefing. She said FEMA representatives explained the preliminary damage assessment process, and that a site visit was conducted in Brighton.
“We’re still in that process of giving FEMA all the information they may want [in order] to decide if we, as in [Adams County], would be included in the presidential declaration,” she said.
Hackett said the benchmark monetary total of damages for the county to qualify for FEMA funding is $1.5 million. Based on the meeting, she said the city is looking at about $1.1 million in infrastructure damage; the city of Thornton is looking at $1.1 million in damages; the city of Aurora is looking at $1.3 million in emergency repairs; and the City of Bennett is looking at $94,000 in damages.
Hackett said she would be surprised if FEMA decided Adams County didn’t meet the $1.5 million indicator, and that the city is likely to know whether it will be included in the presidential declaration by Sept. 1.
If FEMA determines Adams County’s indicator is met, Hackett said the county would host an applicant briefing where governmental and private entities involved in public infrastructure would work through that public assistance application process.
City manager Manuel Esquibel reminded council that the city has reserve funds to address any emergencies that may come forth.
“Should we get fortune of receiving FEMA funding, the FEMA funding would only occur after we have conducted the repairs,” he explained. “So, we would have to use our funds first and then FEMA would reimburse us and then explore whether or not we’ve used those funds effectively as per their guidelines.”
Utilities director Curt Bauers said if the city were to receive funding from FEMA, the funds would probably only cover up to 75 percent of the damage. And although the city has reserves to cover the cost of the emergency repairs, he said the department would have to re-evaluate its 10-year capital plan because the funds they’ll use to make the repairs were earmarked for future projects.
Bauers explained there was damage to the cell’s diversion structure, which diverts water from the river to fill Cell 1. He said the South Platte River was running very high through the month of May, and heavy rains the first week in June caused it to flow even higher. He said they first noted the damage on June 6, and that it worsened over the course of a few more days before anything could be done about it.
“Basically the flood tore that structure out of the ground and damaged the gates and the operating mechanisms and the pipeline that goes from that structure, through underground back into the pump area, and the pump station that pumps water into Cell 1,” he said.
Because it’s still under water, Bauers said they can’t inspect how damaged it is and have made the assumption that none of it is salvageable.
Councilman JW Edwards asked how critical the repairs were and when they needed to be finished.
Bauers said repairs to the diversion structure should be undertaken this winter.
“It’s pretty important that we’re able to fill Cell 1 by the time of spring runoff, hopefully a month or two earlier than that. Ideally we’d like to begin the repairs maybe November, December,” he said.
Bauers also clarified Cell 1 was not flooded, and that other projects in Cell 1 are ongoing and should wrap up in February — around the same time the repairs to the diversion structure should be completed.