By Staff
From staff reports
Residents of Escambia County, Ala., may be eligible for assistance in removal of Hurricane Ivan debris from their private roads and/or from around their private residences.
The Escambia County Commission issued a press release late Tuesday detailing the relief agency's new position on private property clean-up.
David Jennings, director of Escambia County's Emergency Management Agency, said the agency has changed its previous ruling that it would not do work on private property.
County and city officials have been authorized by FEMA to initiate the application process, Jennings said.
Guidelines for Private Property Debris Removal define the conditions for eligibility as "a condition or conditions representing an immediate threat to the health and safety of the public by venue of its unsafe, dangerous or hazardous nature."
Applications will be reviewed and property will be inspected by FEMA officials to determine if the debris cleanup will be eligible for funding under the public assistance program. Eligible cleanup will then be either done by the representative city or county government or contracted out by the respective entity.
Local officials are pleased that Escambia County residents now have this opportunity since only recently has FEMA authorized this program for Escambia County, Ala.
Interested parties should apply by phone as follows: Atmore, Allen Nix at 368-2253; Brewton, City Hall at 809-1760; East Brewton, Steve Dunaway at 867-7998; Flomaton, Susan Tonder at 296-2431, and all other county residents, B.J. Freeman at 867-0208.