FEMA rejects funding Six Mile Canyon Road repair

Efforts to repair Six Mile Canyon Road in Storey County appear to be mired in more than mud.

County officials learned this week that the road, badly damaged in the New Year's Eve flooding, didn't qualify for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

At a meeting Tuesday FEMA officials told the county that because Six Mile Canyon Road was one of only two roads leading out of Virginia City funding should come from the Federal Highway Administration, not FEMA.

Bids to repair the road range from $306,000 to $556,000.

"That road actually falls under the care and feeding of the FHWA, and FEMA can't duplicate those funds," said Ken Higginbotham, public information officer for FEMA's joint field office in Reno. "It's their bailiwick, I understand, because other than the state highway, it's the only road to Virginia City."

But Steve George, spokesman for Gov. Kenny Guinn, said federal highway funds were depleted for the current fiscal year.

Richard Bacus, Storey County Public Works director, said the situation puts the county in a real bind.

"They said it was a rural collector road and the Federal Highway Administration has to fund it," he said. "It's all up in the air right now."

Bacus said that Storey County Commissioner Greg "Bum" Hess planned to speak with Guinn and other elected state representatives about the situation in hopes of finding emergency state money to repair the road, which many Dayton residents use to get to Reno.

"If the state doesn't find any money to get to us, that road might be closed indefinitely," Bacus said. "It might not hurt for these people who use it to start putting in a lot of calls to the governor and NDOT."

Hess called the problem a catch-22, adding that the state had always maintained Six Mile Canyon was not a state road.

"Now they say it is a state road, which we always knew it was, and because of that we can't get (FEMA) funding," he said. "It's a catch-22; either way we're screwed."

Pat Whitten, administration and budget director for the county, said if the Nevada Department of Transportation has Six Mile Canyon Road listed as a federally funded road, the state should offer some assistance.

"If we show up on a state list, the state ought to be doing something," he said. "We would gladly start repairs, but we can't until we can find a funding source. Storey County just doesn't have the money right now."

Nancy Singer, public information officer for the highway administration, said federal funding is allocated to the state, which then sets the priorities.

"Normally, the state would submit a request to our division office and they would evaluate it," she said. "Because it's a rural road doesn't mean that it's not eligible for funding."

Kent Cooper, NDOT's assistant director for planning, did not return calls seeking comment.

George said the county still had two options.

"The first process is for NDOT to do the work now and then submit the cost to the federal highway fund for reimbursement in the next fiscal year," he said.

George added that Frank Siracusa, the director of the state Division of Emergency Management, would be discussing the possibility with NDOT officials in the near future.

But state transportation department spokesman Scott Magruder said he believed FEMA officials were in error and that Six Mile Canyon Road was a county road and did not qualify for federal highway funds.

"But we can look into it," he said. "It's obviously a disaster, seriously affecting people in Lyon and Storey counties."

The second option George mentioned is for Storey County to request assistance from the state Division of Emergency Management's disaster relief fund, which is a longer process requiring approval from the state Board of Examiners and the Legislative Interim Finance Committee.

George said the first option was the best one for the county and the state.

"You can't just leave that road alone, something has to be done," he said.

-- Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.