Final FEMA ruling on Lake Delhi still months away

DELHI - Lake Delhi residents will likely have to wait at least until October to learn the outcome of their crucial second appeal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's denial of flood recovery benefits.

More than 100 people attending last night's April meeting of the Lake Delhi Recreation Association were told that the Combined Lake Delhi Benefited Recreational Lake and Water Quality District has a May 10 deadline to file its appeal; that the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division will then have 60 days to file its supporting appeal; and that the national FEMA office in Washington, D.C., will then have 90 days to respond.

The state has hired Witt Associates, a high-powered Washington, D.C., lobbying firm headed by former FEMA director James Lee Witt, to ensure that the appeals get full consideration, according to Maggie Burger, executive director of the Lake Delhi Recreation Association.

Following the July flood that breached the association's dam and drained Lake Delhi, the group's initial request for FEMA assistance was denied in August. The group appealed that ruling to the regional FEMA office, which last month reiterated its August ruling, stating that the Lake Delhi Recreation Association is not eligible for federal aid because it is a private organization that does not provide any essential government service to the general public.

Most Lake Delhi leaders acknowledge that FEMA funding is critical to the effort to rebuild the dam and restore the lake - a project that could cost as much as $24 million.

Also at last night's meeting, Todd Gifford reported that the Community Fund to Rebuild Lake Delhi has in the last month raised $782,000 - most of it pledges and donations from businesses, foundations and lake property owners.

Gifford said the group expects to exceed its $3.5 million target.

Delaware County Supervisor Jerry Ries reported that county expenditures to aid the flood recovery now exceed $100,000 and are straining the county's budget.

Dave Fry, a leader of the Lake Delhi Watershed Committee, said the group was established primarily as “a lobbying effort to influence people to help us rebuild the dam.”

The committee has raised $41,000, of which $18,000 has been spent for lobbying services in the Iowa Legislature, which is considering a $350,000 appropriation toward an engineering study needed to determine the specifications of the rebuilt dam, he said.