Pottawattamie County Supervisors Approve Proclamation of Disaster Emergency and a Resolution Waiving Permit Fees for Properties with Damage

(Pottawattamie Co) The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors this morning approved a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency.

Chair Susan Miller read the proclamation which notes a series of severe storm systems affected Pottawattamie County on April 26th and continuing thereafter and caused severe weather including damaging winds, straight line winds, tornadoes, heavy rainfall, flash flooding and hail resulting in significant damage to public and private property and power outages.

The proclamation activates the disaster response and recovery aspects of the Pottawattamie County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and it authorizes the use and deployment of all available county resources, supplies, equipment and materials as are reasonably necessary to assist citizens located in the disaster area.

This State of Disaster Emergency is effective retroactively to April 26, 2024 and shall expire on May 26, 2024 unless sooner terminated or extended in writing.

While updating the Supervisors on the disaster recovery response, Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Director Doug Reed stressed the importance of signing up for the Alert Iowa notifications.

The Supervisors also approved a resolution waiving permit fees for properties with damage from the April 26th tornadic activity. Matt Wyant, Director of Planning and Development, said this would waive the permit fees, but they still expect the permit to be applied for and they will still do the inspection process for the permits.

The resolution states that the filing fees for zoning permits, building permits, septic permits, well permits, floodplain development permits shall be waiveded in the following situations:

1. The property is located in the tornadic activity damaged areas of the unincorporated area of Pottawattamie County, Iowa.
2. The structural repairs are necessary to repair tornadic activity damage occurring during the April 26th, 2024 tornadic event.
3. That any structural repairs or construction not tornado damage related shall be subject to the required filing fees.
4. That the waiving of filing fees does not waive any other requirements of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Code sections.