Winter weather aftermath — Latah County Commissioners declare a disaster after recent flooding and other winter weather damage

The Argonaut After the worst winter for Moscow and Latah County in about 20 years, Latah County Commissioners have officially declared a disaster.
The commissioners held a meeting March 13 to discuss the issue and get reports from the county’s Disaster Services and Highway Commissioners regarding the damages.
As a result of the declaration, the commissioners ultimately hope to receive state or federal aid in the form of supplies and equipment or financial support for the damage repairs.
“Possible relief is available if we first take this step of making a disaster declaration,” said Tom Lamar, chair of the Latah County Commission.
As chair, Lamar is the only official, besides a mayor within proper jurisdiction, who has the authority to make the declaration.
Lamar and the other County Commissioners, Richard Walser and Dave McGraw were supportive of the declaration and the possibility of providing assistance to the county.
“I am very much supportive of trying to figure out how to provide relief to all the districts that have been damaged,” Lamar said.
He said it is important to make sure the commissioners and the county go through the process correctly in order to ensure the results are beneficial.
“I am very interested in seeing what we can do to help, I just want to make sure we do it in the right order and make sure we are doing it in a way that is going to produce the right results,” Lamar said.
In order to receive funding, Latah County must meet its specified FEMA Public Assistance Threshold of $134,451 needed for repairs and service during the disaster.
Kevin Renfrow, a chairman from the South Latah Highway District, said the district has paid for twice the usual amount of hours for snow removal.
“We’ve logged around $22,000 in overtime that we’ve paid for snow removal,” Renfrow said. “It’s a big hit to ...


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