Information Items:
- Katrina Expenditures
- Center City New Year's Activities
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Katrina Expenditures
Staff Resources:
Wayne Broome, 704-336-7616 - wbroome@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Craig Shroder, 704-336-7177 - cshroder@ci.charlotte.nc.us
We recently completed and submitted to the State the City's expenditures related to operations in support of Katrina evacuees. Of the total $452,384.16, we are initially requesting reimbursement for $414,278.88. The remaining $38,105.28 was for expenses outside of the reimbursement guidelines, including overtime costs for exempt employees.
FEMA Category Amount
Qualified Labor $ 14,386.85
Equipment 984.07
Qualified Material 7,438.12
Contracts - Coliseum 313,160.36
Contracts - Other 7,338.65
CATS - Special services related to 68,670.58
Katrina
Mutual Aid 2,300.26
The reimbursement process established by FEMA is a universal standard each jurisdiction must follow as part of disaster declaration. In most cases, FEMA will reimburse for equipment, allowable contract services, expendable items, and overtime labor and benefit costs. FEMA does not normally reimburse for regular salaries and wages; however, with Katrina, FEMA is expected to provide 100% reimbursement for eligible expenses.
For the operations in support of Katrina evacuees, the Individual Assistance and Public Assistance reimbursement categories were applicable to the City and County.
The largest expenditure, use of the Coliseum, covers staff, security, utilities and related costs required to operate the facility.
The state consolidates all reimbursement requests and submits a report to FEMA for review and authorization. We anticipate this process to take three to four more months.
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have a good track record of obtaining reimbursements from FEMA for expenses incurred in the wake of a disaster declaration. Careful recordkeeping and expenditure justifications have enabled us to obtain substantial reimbursements [Hugo 1989: $15 million FEMA/State, $2 million insurance; Ice Storm 2002: $5.7 million FEMA/State]. We expect a similar result with our Katrina-related expenses.
The reimbursement process established by FEMA is a universal standard each jurisdiction must follow as part of disaster declaration. In most cases, FEMA will reimburse for equipment, allowable contract services, expendable items, and overtime labor and benefit costs. FEMA does not normally reimburse for regular salaries and wages; however, with Katrina, FEMA is expected to provide 100% reimbursement for eligible expenses.
For the operations in support of Katrina evacuees, the Individual Assistance and Public Assistance reimbursement categories were applicable to the City and County.
The largest expenditure, use of the Coliseum, covers staff, security, utilities and related costs required to operate the facility.
The state consolidates all reimbursement requests and submits a report to FEMA for review and authorization. We anticipate this process to take three to four more months.
The reimbursement process established by FEMA is a universal standard each jurisdiction must follow as part of disaster declaration. In most cases, FEMA will reimburse for equipment, allowable contract services, expendable items, and overtime labor and benefit costs. FEMA does not normally reimburse for regular salaries and wages; however, with Katrina, FEMA is expected to provide 100% reimbursement for eligible expenses.
For the operations in support of Katrina evacuees, the Individual Assistance and Public Assistance reimbursement categories were applicable to the City and County.
The largest expenditure, use of the Coliseum, covers staff, security, utilities and related costs required to operate the facility.
The state consolidates all reimbursement requests and submits a report to FEMA for review and authorization. We anticipate this process to take three to four more months.
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have a good track record of obtaining reimbursements from FEMA for expenses incurred in the wake of a disaster declaration. Careful recordkeeping and expenditure justifications have enabled us to obtain substantial reimbursements [Hugo 1989: $15 million FEMA/State, $2 million insurance; Ice Storm 2002: $5.7 million FEMA/State]. We expect a similar result with our Katrina-related expenses.
Center City New Year's Activities
Staff Resource: Chief Darrel Stephens, 704-336-2337 - dstephens1@cmpd.org
Over 150,000 people attended events in the Center City in December 30-31, 2005. The public events included:
- The Meineke Car Care Bowl Pep Rally - 30,000 participants
- Bobcats Game - 18,000 participants
- Meineke Car Care Bowl - 60,000 participants
- Noon Year's Eve - 4,000 participants
- Jubilate - 13,000 participants
- Uptown Downtown Countdown - 14,000 participants
CMPD began planning for these events several months in advance, developing a deployment plan which would have sufficient emergency personnel in the Center City to ensure a safe and controlled environment. Personnel were deployed from a number of units, such as CMPD's Civil Emergency Unit.
The on-duty personnel were supplemented by a small number of off-duty personnel in the festival area and more than 100 officers employed in an off-duty capacity by Center City businesses. CMPD worked closely with Center City partners, the Fire Department, MEDIC, and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office. The advance planning enabled CMPD and other emergency personnel to respond to any emerging issues in a rapid and organized manner.
On December 30, the nightclubs in the Center City were filled to near capacity. CMPD had sufficient staff in place and there were few problems. On December 31, there was heavy traffic congestion in the Center City as bowl game fans dispersed; however, the traffic was cleared within 90 minutes of the end of the game.
Crowds began to gather at Trade and Tryon Streets for First Night as early as 8:00 pm. By 9:45 pm, the crowds were spilling into the street and the festival area was closed to vehicle traffic. As officers began to observe the presence of street gangs in the festival area, additional officers were deployed and organized into small teams to interdict gang members who were flashing gang signs or exhibiting disorderly behavior.
Most of the arrests in the festival area were in response to a series of small fights within the crowd. CMPD had its Civil Emergency Unit staged near the festival site; those officers were quickly deployed to bring each of the fights to a quick end. Additional arrests were made as midnight approached, most as the result of assaults and disorderly conduct.
At the conclusion of the fireworks, over 1,000 people converged on the Transit Center to catch a bus home. Once the initial buses left for their routes, large numbers of passengers were left to wait as long as 45 minutes for the next bus. Civil Emergency Unit officers were redeployed to the Transit Center to maintain order. In the meantime, officers began dispersing the remaining crowds in the festival area.
The Special Services division of Solid Waste Services was allowed to begin cleaning the area and Tryon Street was reopened to traffic a block at a time as the crowds allowed. Many of the festival visitors dispersed to venues within the entertainment district. Some minor fights broke out in the entertainment district around 2:00 am but were quickly handled by officers on foot and bicycles.
Overall, there were 36 arrests in the Center City on New Year's Eve. There were 23 in the festival area, 7 at the Transit Center, and 6 in the Uptown bar area. Twenty (20) of the arrestees had no prior arrests and none were in CMPD's gang data base.
We are pleased that the advance planning and CMPD's deployment plan kept problems to a minimum during all the New Year's events. All disturbances were quickly brought under control, there was no significant property damage, and there were only a few minor injuries. The lessons learned from the Fourth of July have been a valuable tool in planning for large crowds in the Center City. CMPD will continue to develop individual deployment plans for each event in the Center City and will partner with all key stakeholders in maintaining a safe environment for Center City residents, workers, and visitors.
