SIMI VALLEY : City to Assist in Mobile Home Repairs

Pushing forward with plans to get disaster aid for earthquake-damaged buildings, the Simi Valley City Council on Monday agreed to pick up a small local share of a federal program to remount hundreds of toppled mobile homes back onto their foundations.

In another effort to get on with rebuilding the city, the council approved a list of damaged public properties and decided to forward the list to state and federal agencies as part of the city’s application for disaster-relief funds.

The city included the civic center complex, police station, buckled streets, broken sewer lines and idled components of the city’s water system in the 22-item list to be sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state Office of Emergency Services for disaster relief funds.

City staff members told the council they have not determined the total cost of the damage, but estimated that repairs to City Hall would cost $45,000 and the police station as much as $150,000.

Damage to private property in the city is estimated at $60.4 million.

The council also waived a $21 city fee usually required for repairing damaged buildings. It was another way, council members said, to help residents and businesses get on with rebuilding.

To help the city’s mobile home parks, the council agreed to participate in a program that promises to pay at least $1,500 per coach to repair damaged foundations and hoist fallen trailers back onto their platforms. City officials said coach repairs are estimated to range between $800 and $3,500.

FEMA will pay 90% of the cost, the state Office of Emergency Services will pick up 7.5% and the city will fund the remaining 2.5% with Community Development Block Grants, Deputy City Manager Laura Herron said.

She said the state office of Housing and Community Development agreed to administer the program.

Mayor Greg Stratton praised the plan. “This is a great solution,” Stratton said. “It’s time to get these people back into their homes.”

The Jan. 17 quake devastated Simi Valley’s six mobile home parks, knocking nearly two thirds of the city’s 791 mobile homes off their foundations.