In an interview with County Administrator Wilanne Daniels, she said, “If they qualify for the program and are approved, they have to receive prior approval then we will have the company come out and actually do the debris removal. This is essentially life safety issues, removing trees off of homes, you know in some cases if it’s a lot of brush around the house it could be deemed possibly a fire hazard.”
Daniels continued, “We submitted for this program months ago and just have not received approval from the state to proceed so our hope is if we can collect the applications and show the need for it, we will get approval. It helps put them in a more financially stable position to address the long-term goal of rebuilding or repairing their home without having to use those funds to do the debris side of things.”
Daniels concluded, “There’s no money that would be required out of pocket if they are approved but all that will be approved is what is deemed life safety.”
Daniels wanted to make it clear that the County has NO say in what or who is approved. It’s all through FEMA. The clarification followed questions regarding the press released late last week.
In a press release from Kristie Cloud, PIO for the Jackson County Board of County Commissioners, it was announced that Board had arranged for Thompson Consulting to accept applications for Private Property Debris Removal (PPDR) from the citizens of Jackson County. Applications will be available to be filled out at Citizens Lodge, Tuesdays through Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., September 17, 2019 to October 24, 2019.
Application for this FEMA program does not in any way guarantee that the homeowner will be approved for the service. The County is still waiting on final approval for PPDR from the State. Once that approval is granted, the application packets submitted to Thompson will be forwarded to FEMA for review.
Homeowners wishing to apply for this program must submit the following information, in person, to the Thompson representative, during the dates and times listed above:
- Mortgage/Lien Holder Information
- Drivers License
- Insurance Policy Information
- Hurricane Michael Insurance Claims Statement
This information will be reviewed by the representative and the homeowner will be asked to sign a Right-of-Entry form.
If the homeowner is physically unable to meet with the representative at Citizens Lodge during the timeframe listed above; the homeowner must have their signature notarized on the right-of-entry form, which can be returned along with the supporting documents listed. Signatures must be in person or notarized; there are no exceptions.
In an interview with County Administrator Wilanne Daniels, she said, “We submitted for this program months ago and just have not received approval from the state to proceed so our hope is if we can collect the applications and show the need for it, we will get approval. It helps put them in a more financially stable position to address the long-term goal of rebuilding or repairing their home without having to use those funds to do the debris side of things.”
Daniels concluded, “There’s no money that would be required out of pocket if they are approved but all that will be approved is what is deemed life safety.”
Daniels wanted to make it clear that the County has NO say in what or who is approved. It’s all through FEMA.
