Schumer pushes FEMA to release Tioga County aid
$4 million needed for document preservation
Downtown Owego. The Tioga County Courthouse is at the top center. / Staff
OWEGO — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is pushing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to release $4 million in disaster aid for Tioga County.
The funding would be used to restore county courthouse documents damaged by the flood more than a year ago. In June, the federal agency had promised more than $4 million for the restoration effort, according to Schumer’s office.
“The $4 million expenditure, which will have to be deducted from the county’s budget in mid-October, will be crippling if the county has to bear the brunt of it,” Schumer said in a letter to FEMA Administrator William Fugate. “Before the cost of document replacement, the county already has to cut costs and lay off 20 employees.”
County officials sent the documents to preservationists and have paid $380,000 upfront to have them sorted, freeze-dried and preserved. Two employees are working full-time sorting documents and determining which don’t need to be replaced.
Tropical Storm Lee hit Tioga County — and particularly Owego, the county seat — hard last fall, creating more than 300 public assistance projects costing more than $30 million. Owego’s municipal building was inundated and had to replace hundreds of documents, including deeds and contracts for local businesses.
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