12.15.11

Delegation Announces Nearly $30 Million in FEMA Public Assistance for Minot Schools

WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven and Kent Conrad, and Congressman Rick Berg today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded the City of Minot nearly $30 million to rebuild two schools that were destroyed in this year’s severe flooding. The grant awards $24.5 million for Eric Ramstad Middle School and $5 million for Lincoln Elementary School. 

The grants do not address the cost of relocating the two schools to north Minot, as Minot School Superintendent Mark Vollmer has requested. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, however, said last week in a Washington meeting organized by Senator Hoeven that he would consider whether the schools would qualify for “alternative” program funding. That would enable the school district to receive the full 90 percent reimbursement under the grant formula instead of a lesser amount. 

Pursuant to the delegation’s meeting, FEMA this week dispatched a team to the city to evaluate the viability and cost-effectiveness of moving the schools. The team is scheduled to meet with Vollmer and other city officials today. 

“Having a FEMA team on the ground in Minot will enable the school district to make a compelling case for moving the schools,” the delegation said. “It will also give FEMA officials an opportunity to see first-hand the logic and cost-effectiveness of an alternative plan that school officials believe works for the city and for the agency.”