By Justin Strawser
SHAMOKIN - Shamokin City Council unanimously approved a motion Tuesday night to enter into a contract with a certified engineer as part of a final step to apply for grant money to tear down seven homes damaged by the Flood of 2011 in September.
Councilman William Strausser and Mayor George Rozinskie made and seconded the motion to hire Brinkash and Associates, Ashland, to perform survey and flood plain elevation work at a contract not to exceed $3,000. It passed unanimously 3-0. Councilmen William Milbrand and R. Craig Rhoades were absent.
The owners of six homes along South Rock Street and one home on Sixth Street have applied voluntarily for the Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Bureau of Recovery and Mitigation. Applications are due Dec. 30.
The grant, which requires the survey work to be accepted by PEMA, will pay for the demolition of these homes as well as reimburse the city for engineeingr fees, City Clerk Steve Bartos said.
It is believed the state match for grant money will come in at 20 to 22 percent and the municipal match will be 3 to 5 percent, while the federal match will be 75 percent, according to a letter to the city from Thomas Hughes, PEMA state hazard mitigation officer.
The only other order of business in the 10-minute meeting was the unanimous approval of a Tax Revenue Anticipation Note (TRAN) for the 2012 fiscal year in the amount of $200,000.
Solicitor H. Robert Mattis Jr. said these notes are taken by most municipalities annually regardless of their financial health to cover expenses after the new year, until tax revenue is received in March, and must be paid back before the end of the year.