Pike County awards home-buyout administration contract, extends disaster-recovery consulting; officials detail flood spending

Pike County Fiscal Court voted May 21 to appoint AECOM Technical Services to administer a federally funded home buyout program tied to recent flood events, and to extend disaster-recovery consulting services with a current contractor while the county continues recovery work and reimbursement negotiations.

County staff said FEMA will cover about 75% of the buyout administration costs, the state will contribute roughly 12% and the county is expected to cover about 13%; staff noted the county planned to seek payment from a local “Safe Fund” to cover its share. The court recorded a unanimous roll-call vote to award the administration contract to AECOM after a committee review of proposals.

The court also approved an extension of disaster recovery consulting services from the incumbent firm (recorded in the meeting as Title Based) because the state master agreement on which the firm had been working has ended and the county needs continuity while the recovery continues.

Fiscal officers told the court the county has spent approximately $2.5 million out of operating funds on immediate flood response and repairs; they stressed that federal and state reimbursements had not yet been received. The county judge said FEMA does not reimburse until work is complete and that the county expects cash-flow pressure while bills are paid and reimbursements are processed.

Court members said some repair work will require separating expenses between multiple flood events to meet FEMA reimbursement rules. Commissioners asked staff to pursue all available state and local funding mechanisms and to provide schedule and cash-flow updates at future meetings.

Motions to award the AECOM contract and to extend the consultant agreement passed unanimously in roll-call votes recorded by the clerk.