Lansing City Council Approves Two FEMA Projects
- Remaining Federal Emergency Management Agency funds totaling approximately $53,000 face a strict calendar-year deadline for the City of Lansing, setting up a financial shortfall as the Lansing City...
- Meeting on Monday, October 5, 2026, the Lansing City Council approved contractor bids for two distinct public works initiatives tied to the remaining disaster recovery funds.
- City Clerk Teresa Severson informed the council that the remaining FEMA allocation stands at approximately $53,000.
Remaining Federal Emergency Management Agency funds totaling approximately $53,000 face a strict calendar-year deadline for the City of Lansing, setting up a financial shortfall as the Lansing City Council advances two infrastructure projects that carry a combined price tag of $113,575, waukonstandard.com reported.
South Front Street Bridge and Shaw Street Bids
Meeting on Monday, October 5, 2026, the Lansing City Council approved contractor bids for two distinct public works initiatives tied to the remaining disaster recovery funds. The action greenlights revetment work at the South Front Street bridge totaling $44,500 alongside road resurfacing work on Shaw Street priced at $69,075 from River City Paving.
City Clerk Teresa Severson informed the council that the remaining FEMA allocation stands at approximately $53,000. While additional state funding is anticipated to supplement the account, the combined cost of the bridge and street repairs will far exceed the available outside grants, leaving the municipal government responsible for the majority of the expense.
Budget Adjustments and Local Option Funding
Mayor Mike Verdon outlined the widening gap between grant awards and project expenses during the session.
The FEMA money plus a little bit of state money will not quite come to one-half of the total for these two projects, so a little more than a half will go out of the city’s coffers.
Mayor Mike Verdon
Because existing road-use revenues are fully committed to other municipal line items, city leaders must identify alternative local revenue sources to cover the local match. Severson noted that local option sales tax funding offers a viable pathway to absorb the city share, though doing so will require formal budget amendments. Road use is already budgeted for, so we’d have to use probably some local option money… we’re going to end up probably having to amend the budget,
Severson said.
Calendar Year Deadline and Fund Forfeiture Risk
The federal assistance carries a strict expiration date that forced the council’s immediate action on October 5, 2026.
Or we don’t use the FEMA money, and it goes back to them… It’s kind of a catch-22.
Mayor Mike Verdon
With the federal rules requiring the funds to be expended during the current calendar year, the elected body elected to proceed with the bridge revetment and street resurfacing contracts despite the required local budget adjustments. Additional details regarding the upcoming municipal budget amendments and state funding timelines will appear in the Wednesday, October 14, 2026 print edition of The Standard, waukonstandard.com reported.