HERMANN – Those federal disaster-response funds that Gasconade County officials hope to receive to help pay for road repairs caused by recent storms might be a long time in coming — if at all, cautions county government’s top administrator.

Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, urges patience and a healthy dose of skepticism on the part of county officials hoping to obtain money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help local governments cover the cost of repairing storm-damaged roads. That’s based on what he recently heard from his counterparts in Crawford and Phelps counties, two other Meramec Region counties that has been dealing with roads damaged by heavy spring rains.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Schulte told associate commissioners Jim Holland, R-Hermann, and Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, at last week’s session at the courthouse in Hermann. He noted that Crawford and Phelps officials are still waiting on funds they applied for after dealing with similar disasters in those counties — about two years ago.

Meanwhile, Hardecke, the Southern District associate commissioner, explained that the $7,100-plus referred to in last week’s edition of the Gasconade County Republican represents the amount that needs to be spent by the county on road repairs to qualify to apply for the relief funds — not the amount the county could receive if its application is approved. County officials estimate that more than that has been spent in the past three months responding to roads damaged by heavy rain.

As a result of responding to the storm damage, regular county road maintenance has been set aside for several weeks. Hardecke said during a recent session that he thinks the public is understanding that work such as routine grading and brush cutting has been stalled while the more-pressing road repairs are made.

The availability of federal funds was outlined two weeks ago by Elizabeth Thompson of the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the state counterpart to FEMA. To be eligible to receive the federal funds that are administered by SEMA, a presidential declaration is required.

County Road Department crews also have been involved in the upgrade of three roads on the southern end — Tappmeyer Road, a portion of Old Highway 19 and City Cemetery Road — that has figured into the delay of regular road maintenance. Tappmeyer has been converted to hard surface, and Old 19 and City Cemetery Road have been resurfaced, thanks to the county receiving funds through a Community Development Bloc Grant (CDBG).

“Now, we can move on to normal maintenance,” Hardecke said.

Meanwhile, the County Commission Thursday morning received confirmation of the benefits of being part of a large group in terms of insurance cost. The panel voted to renew its liability and property damage coverage with MPR — an organization that provides insurance to many local government agencies — for a cost that’s $5,600 less than what it cost a year ago.

“That’s the result of the pool,” said Brad Kosem of the brokerage firm Marsh McLennan Agency.