The Montezuma County commissioners passed a disaster declaration Tuesday to help the county receive reimbursement for repairs to infrastructure damaged by recent flooding. That includes damage to roads throughout the county and a rush of sediment and debris into Mancos’s water that left it non-potable.
At Monday’s workshop, the lead foreman of the county road and bridge department, Heath Higgins, told the commissioners that one county road, M, remains completely closed between roads 25 and 26. Some roads also have just one lane open.
Higgins said flooding destroyed a culvert in the Hartman drainage, taking out much of Road M.
The commissioners agreed that going through the usual bidding process for an engineer to do a design would take too much time. The disaster declaration allows the county to use emergency procurement procedures.
“M’s a busy road. It’s a major thoroughfare for us,” Higgins said.
“Moving this forward sooner rather than later is prudent,” Commission Chair Jim Candelaria said.
On Tuesday, Region 9 deputy director Shak Powers told the commissioners at their regular meeting that without the county’s disaster declaration, the town of Mancos would be ineligible for reimbursement from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, even though the town planned to pass a disaster declaration of its own.
Governor Jared Polis has requested a disaster declaration from the president through FEMA, Power said, and if Trump grants it, money will be coming in, though at what he called “the speed of government.” Eligible expenses are reimbursable for up to 75 percent, Powers said.
“But without the disaster declaration, none of your expenses are eligible for reimbursement, so this is a step for potentially getting reimbursed,” he said
“I think it’s super critical for us to help support the town of Mancos,” Candelaria said.
Powers added that Region 9 has activated its disaster assistance loan program, offering loans to businesses of up to $10,000 with zero interest for six months
The commissioners unanimously approved the resolution.
The commissioners also agreed to let the landfill take green waste such as tree limbs for free through the remainder of 2026, to help people dispose of waste caused by the floods.
