Lincoln County to rent equipment for flood repair

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — An estimate for some of the cost to repair roads and bridges damaged in the recent flooding in Lincoln County is at about $48,500 to rent big equipment.

“We’ve got three or four bridges that are completely sitting on an islands. So we’re going to need some bigger equipment to get the job done,” county assistant highway engineer Jared Narum said during Tuesday’s commissioner’s meeting.

Along with those repairs, “we don’t have enough dirt,” Narum said. The county is in the process of obtaining more dirt from hillside properties.

The county will need a dozer and other equipment to take out that new dirt, he said.

Commissioners approved Narum’s list of equipment and cost at $9,900 a month for a payloader, $13,400 a month for a long-reach excavator, $17,300 a month for a dozer and $7,900 a month for a sheeps foot compactor.

Not all the equipment will come at the same time, Narum said. And it’s not certain how long each piece will be needed.

The long-reach excavator, for example, will be used only to reach riprapping that was installed in 2014, Narum said.

Commissioner Joel Arends said the county needs to pay the up-front cost for the equipment which can be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

County emergency manager Harold Timmerman said townships with flood damage may need to borrow money to pay for repairs, and then, get reimbursed by FEMA.

Tim DeJong, a township supervisor in Canton Township, said the township has borrowed money before for flood repairs. As he recalled, although FEMA did reimburse the township for costs, the township still needed to pay around 20%.

Timmerman told the commissioners on Tuesday the proper flood help from the county is to help townships document and record their flood damage.

The information is critical to any federal disaster declaration. Without the federal disaster designation, FEMA cannot provide any reimbursement.

Commissioners did approve a formal disaster declaration for the flood which is necessary for Gov. Kristi Noem to request a federal disaster declaration, Timmerman said.

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