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REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 22, 2016 complete a damage assessment. We have to make contact with every property that has been reported to us and do a damage assessment. Then all that data is collected and forwarded onto the Department of Homeland Security in Indianapolis. At that point the governor will make the decision whether to forward it onto FEMA for a presidential declaration. There are thresholds attached to each plateau of assistance from the government. In order to get a presidential declaration, the first hurdle is to demonstrate $11.2 million dollars in public assistance damage. That is infrastructure, roads, sewer systems and those type of systems in the entire state. During this storm we were one of the only affected areas so unfortunately we will most likely not meet that threshold. However, we will still make the FEMA application. Ironically, getting a refusal from FEMA will open several other doors for us and other opportunities to seek out aid. Mr. Antonucci stated the Department of Homeland Security has been with us since Tuesday morning right after the storm. They have been with us through every step of the early recovery process. The other threshold that we are trying to meet right now is IA or Individual Assistance. We would have to identify several hundred homes being totally destroyed. Right now we are competing with Louisiana which is experiencing flooding at a larger scale over a larger area than we did. Many of the aid agencies are focusing on Louisiana which they probably should be. FEMA is a catastrophic event service which is the spirit of the creation of the agency to go to truly catastrophic areas. Mr. Antonucci stated tomorrow, August 23rd, they will be setting up their Housing Assistance Plan and Office. We will begin to take this information we have gathered and set up individual cases so that we can process them possibly through a Small Business Administration federally insured loan program. That will allow people to roll their present and existing mortgages into a very low interest loan. That will hopefully be a good program for our community. We held a meeting with Senator Donnelly this past Sunday morning and did ask him to search out any possible aid that could be sent to South Bend and St. Joseph County. We have two (2) faith based organizations that are assisting with the removal of debris and damaged materials inside the homes. The governor released twenty (20) volunteers from the Department of Corrections to assist us in debris removal. The City has been vigilant having additional pickups throughout the week to help people remove those materials. The debris removal is a concern because the quicker we can do that, a mosquito outbreak is less likely and the spread of mold within homes is less likely. Mr. Antonucci stated he is glad to answer any questions the Council may have. Councilmember Regina Williams- Preston asked if there was any programming for people who were renters and lost a lot of their belongings. Mr. Antonucci responded absolutely, we have a service center set up through the Red Cross on Jefferson Street. There are several different forms of aid they are providing for people. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked Mr. Antonucci who the two (2) faith based organizations are. Mr. Antonucci responded it is the Southern Baptist Ministries and the Christian Aid Ministries. Also Team Rubicon, which is a veteran's organization, will be here on Thursday. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked Mr. Antonucci how a faith based group could connect with him if they wanted to help. Mr. Antonucci responded everything is funneling through the Emergency Management Agency. We've continued to try to get our number, 235 -9378, out to the community. The Salvation Army is currently helping us coordinate all volunteer organizations and anyone who wants to help could contact them. We will gladly accept any help. Councilmember Karen White thanked Mr. Antonucci and all the volunteers who have responded to the community's need at this time. Mr. Antonucci responded that this recovery is going to come from within and not from without and the community will need to step up and help our neighbors and then we will get through this. 0j