Ohio Valley Long Term Recovery Committee

Ohio Valley Long Term Recovery Committee

August 28, 2016 – Flash Flooding – Hamilton County, OH

Tuesday, November 1, 2016 – 10:00 a.m.

Norwood Community Senior Center

Minutes of Meeting

Members Present

Jennifer Bieger – United Way of Greater Cincinnati

James Dinkel – Tri-State COAD

Haley Elkins – Junior League of Cincinnati

Sandy Keiser – Tri-State COAD

Ryan McEwan – Hamilton County EMHSA

Ann Newsom – Metropolitan Sewer District

Amanda Toole – Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio

James Woestman – Church of Latter-Day Saints

David Van Pelt – Southwest Ohio Chaplain Corps

Marilyn Wall – Sierra Club

1. Call to Order:Chair James Dinkel called the meeting to order at 10:04 a.m.

1. Introductions:Everyone in the room signed in and introduced themselves.

1. Review of Minutes from October 25, 2016: Ms. Bieger made a motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Ms. Wall. The motion passed unanimously (7-0).

1. Election of Treasurer: Chair Dinkel brought to the groups attention the need to elect a Treasurer. Ms. Bieger asked for some clarification on funds that were received, and how they would be distinguished from Tri-State COAD funds. Chair Dinkel explained to the group that while the funding would go into the same account as the Tri-State COAD funds, the funds would be earmarked for LTRC use only and would not be used for any Tri-State COAD purposes.

Following this discussion, Chair Dinkel nominated David Van Pelt for the position, which Mr. Van Pelt accepted. Mr. McEwan seconded the motion to elect Mr. Van Pelt as Treasurer. The motion passed unanimously (7-0).

1. Member Updates:Chair Dinkel began the meeting by giving an update from the Tri-State COAD. Chair Dinkel stated that there were some details with the financial account that were being resolved. Chair Dinkel would continue to work with Tri-State COAD to find solutions and report them back to the LTRC.

Chair Dinkel also stated that Mr. Pyron was unable to attend the meeting today on behalf of the Lutheran Disaster Response, but that they were still working on the application process for monetary support for the case manager position. Chair Dinkel explained that the process is taking longer than it used to now that the LDR is centralizing the efforts of its 63 synods, and that the coordination meant more information was required. Ms. Bieger asked the Chair what specific information was being requested, and Chair Dinkel responded with more specifics to our potential case load.

This brought Chair Dinkel to the next issue, which was the first case for the LTRC. Chair Dinkel informed the LTRC that on Friday, some members of the LTRC were alerted to an individual who will hereafter be referred to in the minutes as Case #001. Chair Dinkel had been in touch with Case #001 via telephone the morning of this meeting.

Case #001 had an apartment in Bond Hill but was displaced by the flash flooding. Case #001 was fast-tracked by the claims folks at MSD, and has received $3,000. Case #001, in talking with Chair Dinkel, stated that he believed he should have received closer to $10-15,000. Chair Dinkel informed the group that Case #001 has been staying at the Red Cross shelter initially, then the Talbot House and has a case worker at both the Talbot House and at the VA. The group was informed that the Red Cross had already closed the case for Case #001.

Ms. Toole stated that Legal Aid could meet with Case #001 to discuss how MSD valued each item if he believed the $3,000 was not sufficient compensation. Chair Dinkel informed the group that Case #001 would be moving to a new location shortly and that his most basic needs were being met, but that he would have a need for furniture, clothes, and he requested a replacement of his television set. Chair Dinkel assured the group that he did not promise anything to Case #001. Case #001 told Chair Dinkel that he had already received $75 from St. Vincent de Paul. The LTRC discussed the need to put Case #001 in touch with New Life Furniture.

As the LTRC does not currently have a case manager, the question arose as to who would help him through the process. Ms. Keiser asked whether or not the Talbot House case manager and VA case manager were working together, and whether or not the VA case manager could continue to assist Case #001 until the LTRC case manager was in place. Mr. McEwan inquired whether or not Ms. O’Neill from the Red Cross might be able to serve as an interim case manager for the LTRC, but there was no definitive answer given. Chair Dinkel would share Legal Aid’s information with Case #001 to help him evaluate the amount he had received, and the LTRC would move on from there. Ms. Toole said she would reach out to the VA case managers as well to follow up.

The question was then brought up by Ms. Bieger as to how we would address the issue in the future if we continued to receive cases, if the LTRC did not have a case manager in place. Chair Dinkel said that is why it was important to get information for the LDR application, and asked Ms. Newsom for an update.

Ms. Newsom informed the group that as of the meeting date, MSD had 2,753 field investigation work orders, 1,991 confirmed sewer back up cleaning locations, with approximately 55 that still needed cleaned. To date MSD had received 674 claims. Ms. Elkins asked if Ms. Newsom could expand on the differences in the numbers. Ms. Newsom stated that the field investigation work orders may be duplicate calls from the same location, which is why there were more work orders than confirmed locations.

Mr. McEwan then stated that if the LTRC was working off the assumption that five percent of the claims would be denied by MSD and brought to the LTRC, based on Ms. Newsom’s most recent numbers, the LTRC could expect at least 34 cases. Mr. McEwan also said if the LTRC were to look at five percent of total SBU cleaning locations that number would go to at least 100. Mr. McEwan then asked if these numbers could be given to Mr. Pyron for the LDR application so the LTRC could move forward with securing a caseworker. Chair Dinkel said he would share the information with Mr. Pyron.

This then led to a discussion about the upcoming outreach event on November 12. Prior to the meeting Ms. Elkins sent out a draft of the flyer for the LTRC to review. The group discussed a few minor changes to the flyer. Mr. McEwan asked for an updated count of volunteers prior to the meeting so he would be able to plan how many flyers to print. Mr. McEwan confirmed that Medical Reserve Corps had three volunteers and said that he would reach out to Ms. Cook and ask her to post something on the Norwood Strong FB page. Mr. Woestman said he would send information out to the Tri-State COAD groups and have them RSVP with Mr. McEwan.

Ms. Bieger then asked if there was any follow up on the six families mentioned by the Presbyterian church several weeks back. Chair Dinkel stated that as far as he was aware the Presbyterian church had reached out to those families, and many of them had pre-existing issues anyways. Mr. McEwan noted that representatives from the Presbyterian church were on the list and that if they needed anything they were updated as to the weekly LTRC meetings.

Mr. McEwan then asked if there would be a meeting the following week, because of the outreach. Chair Dinkel asked the group and everyone agreed that there was no need for the meeting due to the Elections, and that the group would resume meeting on November 15.

1. Adjournment: Chair Dinkel adjourned the meeting at 11:25. a.m. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in the Norwood Community Senior Center.