- Lansing’s Public Service Department and BWL are dealing with significant costs following recent storm cleanup efforts.
- Crews have responded to hundreds of affected areas, with the city spending nearly $50,000 in overtime labor.
- BWL reported 24 broken transmission poles and 39 broken distribution poles, costing around $6 million in recovery.
- While FEMA reimbursement wasn’t met, both the city and BWL are seeking State Disaster Assistance under Section 19.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Many of the branches and power lines that fell during the destructive storms this month have now been cleaned up. But what's still lingering are the costs and fees from the weeks-long cleanup.
I'm your Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence, taking a look at how much the storm is costing the City and BWL — and how they plan to pay for it.
“Thank you for your patience with our crews.” said Jeremiah Kilgore.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the City of Lansing’s Public Service Department, which tells me crews have responded to hundreds of affected neighbors.
“We’ve had two main crews out doing the tree and large branch removal, and another crew handling brush and small limb cleanup.” Kilgore said.
And it all comes at a cost...
“With all these crews out, I’m sure it’s a lot of overtime — so talk to me about the costs of that.” I asked Kilgore.
“We’re checking our overtime, hoping to get reimbursed for some of that from FEMA.” Kilgore responded.
Jeremiah Kilgore told me they’ve already spent nearly $50,000 in overtime costs — and that number is still rising.
The Lansing Board of Water and Light is also facing added costs, after reporting 24 broken transmission poles and 39 broken distribution poles during the cleanup process.
“That’s a very large number, but we have the resources — we have the crew here.” said Dick Peffley.
BWL leaders say they’ve spent around $6 million on recovery efforts.
While the company didn’t meet the FEMA reimbursement threshold, leaders say they’re working in coordination with the City to request a State Declaration under Section 19 for Disaster Assistance.
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