Douglas County and City of Omaha waive certain fees to help in tornado recovery

OMAHA — Fees to dump tornado-related debris at the Douglas County landfill have been waived at least through Saturday under a unanimous vote by the County Board.

“Clearly as a board we don’t want to charge anybody who has been through a disaster,” Board Chair Roger Garcia said during the commissioners’ weekly meeting Tuesday. “It’s a way we can help.”

A “ballpark” daily cost to waive landfill fees, according to Kent Holm, the county’s environmental services director, is about $17,000. 

For example, on Monday, the third day following tornados that ravaged parts of Douglas County, about 580 tons of material, an average of about two tons per load, came to the Pheasant Point Landfill managed for the county by Waste Management of Nebraska, Holm said. The landfill is at 1305 N. 216th St. in Bennington.

The worst-hit Nebraska counties by the twister activity were Douglas, Lancaster and Washington.

Also Tuesday, county commissioners said they will consider waiving building permit fees associated with storm recovery for impacted residents of Bennington, Waterloo and unincorporated areas of the county. 

Holm is to put together a formal resolution, to be acted upon next week, on forgiving permitting application fees for such things as replacing roofs, plumbing or houses for areas whose permits are processed through the county.

Douglas County officials will seek reimbursements for the waiver expenses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Paul Johnson, director of Douglas County Emergency Management. 

Whether such reimbursements will be approved is yet unknown, he told the board.

Later Tuesday, the Omaha City Council gathered in the same legislative chambers — and voted unanimously to waive building permit fees for residents in its geographical jurisdiction.

City Councilman Brinker Harding said that eliminating permitting fees related to rebuilding was an immediate action the council could take. He said the council’s move would not waive the process required in building or rebuilding, just the permit application fees.

Both the City Council and County Board meetings featured storm updates and praise for various departments.

Speaking at the County Board meeting, for example, were Johnson and other county department heads whose teams were on the front lines  handling the tornado emergency. Commissioners noted that many county departments do their work largely behind the scenes, unnoticed by the average person.

Mary Ann Borgeson said many area residents “have no clue” how these departments impact their lives until a disaster strikes. 

She and others lauded agencies including the County Engineer’s Offie, County 911 Emergency Communications, County Emergency Management, County GIS and County Communications.

“This demonstrates what we’re all about in county government,” Borgeson said.