Rosston seeks FEMA aid

ROSSTON – Rosston Mayor Dale Quarles is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to get funds to help with the cleanup after February’s ice storm.

Quarles told the Rosston City Council, at its May meeting Monday night, the city has done what it could with the manpower available on cleaning up after the storm and will discuss what it will take to finish. The streets have been cleared, he said, but the debris needs to be dealt with. He’ll be meeting with FEMA May 16 to see if the agency can contribute to the cleanup.

In other business, the council was told the city has been sending out shutoff notices to those who are behind or simply not paying their water bill. A total of 54 notices were sent out in April, resulting in $19,000 coming in as people paid their bills. Quarles said this will continue because it’s the revenue from the water department that allows the city to pay its expenses. He pointed out the city won’t indiscriminately shut off people’s water and is willing to work with the public if people will led the city know when their bill is higher than normal or expected. Sometimes, he said, people have leaks they don’t know about and this causes their bills to be higher.

“We need people to pay their bills,” he said, “free water is over.”

The final order of business was Quarles telling the council he’s submitted the paperwork for Act 833 fund for the fire department.