 My name is Ernie Bach, Jr., and I am president and CEO of Subaru of New England. And I am proud to be in the great state of Vermont. I have a house in Vermont. I have a house in Mendon, Vermont. I love it. It's fantastic. Subaru is dedicated to Vermont. The most Subaru sold per capita in the world is Vermont, with 15% penetration. We have been selling the second largest amount of Subaru's for the last 15 years. Subaru in Vermont is the second best-selling car. The only manufacturer that beats Subaru in Vermont is Toyota. But we're getting close, and we want to show our commitment to Vermont. And to show the commitment to the Vermont, I'm going to introduce a gentleman who I've known over the years. He's a good guy. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Governor Scott. I thought he was going to introduce someone else. Thank you very much, Ernie, and I want to express my sincere appreciation to you and Subaru of New England for your commitment to our beautiful state and willing to step up to help in our time of need. This incredibly generous contribution that we're, he hasn't announced yet, but I will, will help support a wide range of Vermonters who were hard hit by catastrophic flooding. It will also keep Vermont the clean and beautiful place we know and love, and as we welcome visitors to support our economy and communities. This will be a $250,000 contribution that is going to be this incredibly generous contribution of $250,000. It's going to be impactful in so many ways. First, we'll be using the $100,000 of it to support the fall version of Greenup Day. And we're going to call it Flood Recovery Cleanup Day, which will be Saturday, August 26. And more on that in a few minutes. Second, another $100,000 will go to support those who live in mobile homes impacted by flooding. We're working out the final details of the program, but when I told Ernie about the situation, some mobile home owners were in due to flooding. He agreed with me that no Vermonter whose mobile home was destroyed should have to pay for the deconstruction and removal of it, which would add insult to injury. And this contribution will cover those costs. And if there's any funds left over, we'll issue grants to help those in further need. Third, the remaining $50,000 will go toward the Vermont Strong License Plate Fund, which will also support businesses and individuals impacted by flooding. A little bit of news on the plates. We expect the website to go live by the end of next week, so you'll be able to order Vermont Strong plates very soon, so stay tuned. Next, we'll hear from Kate Alberghini, the Executive Director of Greenup Vermont, who will go into further details about August 26. To be clear, the state will continue to work with communities to remove flood debris, and in fact, we've already removed 5,700 tons to date and still counting. And when you do the math, that's a lot. That's 11,700 pounds, 11 million 700,000 pounds of debris. Cleanup Day on Saturday the 26th will be another opportunity for Vermonters to help communities get back to normal. It will be similar to Greenup Day, with Ernie and Subaru of New England have supported, which they have supported over many, many years. After Tropical Storm Irene, there are many who canceled their trips to Vermont, as you might recall, and decided to vacation elsewhere. We want to prevent that from happening this year. We know much of Vermont relies on tourism to support our local economy. So Cleanup Day will help make sure we continue to be the most beautiful state in the nation and show that we're open for business and ready to welcome people back to our state, which will help us get back on track. So again, I want to thank Ernie and everyone at Subaru of New England and all the dealers here in Vermont that are represented. I think there are seven. There's eight, but I got to tell you, this program that you develop with the money is amazing. And we were talking about how the schools have problems sometimes funding music programs. What I would like to do right now is add another $100,000 to the music programs and the art programs in the state of Vermont. Well, again, that's incredibly generous and a very, very much welcome surprise, something that we hadn't talked about. But we have a few other issues that we need to talk about as well. So we'll keep on talking. Again, I want to thank you Ernie and your entire team here in Vermont for all you've done to support us in our time of need. And this is going to be a long road. This isn't going to be, we're not going to recover overnight, but with your help and the support of many Vermonters, we'll get through it because we work together. We'll get through it together. So thank you again. Thank you. Appreciate it. So at this point, I can't welcome you up to explain the program. Thank you, Governor Scott, all the support that everyone gives screen up and certainly Mr. Mock and the Subaru of New England team. That's a hard act to follow. I am pleased to stand here and tell you about this special flood recovery cleanup that Greenup, Vermont and Subaru of New England and all cities and towns have teamed together to make happen on Saturday, August 26. What we're doing basically is reaching out to all cities and towns throughout Vermont and seeing who needs assistance in their public spaces to clean up litter, flood litter that has leached into their areas. Road sides, parks, waterways that are safe to go into right now will all be part of this program. We are reaching out then to attract volunteers and build teams around these locations throughout Vermont so that people can go to a location near them, know what's expected, be boots on the ground and get these areas cleaned up in time for our fall visitors and our winter visitors to arrive. Vermonters are steeped in pride for this state and our clean environment, our natural landscapes that we all get to live, work and play in. So it's very important to take the initiative on, make this happen and get Vermont cleaned up in time for the fall. Towns and cities should contact Greenup, Vermont through our email greenupvermont, greenupatgreenupvermont.org as well as call the numbers that are on the website. So we ask please visit the website, reach out. Volunteers are also asked to visit the website. Have a look at the towns that are in need of your hands and help and sign up. We have a Greenup Vermont app that can be downloaded and that app will allow towns to be in contact with the team members immediately so that details can change on a dime so that people can be directed in the proper areas. So all that can be found on greenupvermont.org and we look forward to getting out there on Saturday, August 26 and cleaning up Vermont. Thank you very much, Kate. And it's going to be very important for us, a tight time frame. We know that about 10 days away and so we'll need all your support from the media to get the word out of what we're doing here and any questions get to Greenup Vermont to get those answered and we'll do the best we can to get this rolling. I just wanted to, again, it was a complete surprise to me the 100,000 for the music programs throughout Vermont and we'll figure out how to disperse all that money but it was just as a result of Ernie saying what can we do to help in the arts and with some of the learning loss and socialization loss that Vermont kids have experienced due to the pandemic. And I said, well, they're always underfunded especially the music programs and arts and theater and so forth. And he said, well, I might do something about that in about five minutes. So again, complete surprise to me but giving a little background Ernie graduated from Berkeley and actually had a band it was called the Ernie and the Automatics and I was telling my press secretary yesterday that Ernie actually opened up for Deep Purple and he said, Deep what? As I'm sure some others in the group here might be saying as well but they were a pretty famous band at one time, maybe a few years ago but his love of music and his love of Vermont to fruition for us and this is incredibly generous and I thank you so much for that. With that, I'm sure you have some questions for us either Kate or Ernie or myself on anything we're doing today or anything we announced. $100,000 of Ernie's donation is going to go toward Greenup Day? $100,000 will go towards the mobile home those affected by the flooding. So it'll be Cleanup Day some of it will go towards Cleanup Day as well but the mobile home deconstruction will come first out of the $100,000 and then from there there'll be other grants available same with the Cleanup Day of Vermont that'll go towards the day itself and then we'll determine what we can do if there's anything left over we'll determine where we go with that and make sure that we continue to view five Vermont in any way we can. Anything you want to add to that, Kate? Some of the mobile homes for folks that are currently displaced right now a few weeks ago you mentioned bringing in units from the federal government where do you stand? Yeah, we're still contemplating that and I might ask Will, is Will here? I might ask Will to describe some of what FEMA will offer in that regard but first we have to get the in some respects get the deconstruction of those the mobile homes that were condemned and unable to be returned to taken care of but we have some options for those who've been displaced they have available a number of programs and I'll let General Roy talk about that. Thank you, sir. Good afternoon. So for the families that are currently displaced they are authorized rental assistance so they've found a place to go or they're with friends and family not sure where. The state of Vermont has requested direct housing from FEMA we're awaiting word from headquarters whether that's approved or not that program allows us to provide assistance when there isn't a rental stock available and we know Vermont has a very tight market for rentals but currently anybody who has been affected by their home has been affected by the storm has rental assistance I think there's over a thousand people right now who are receiving rental assistance from FEMA and they have that available up to 18 months so those who have been impacted have the funding available if we run into short stockage full places to go that's where we typically bring in the FEMA trailers which are well known and we'll work with the state on appropriate locations states and individuals on locations to go in some cases we can if they have a flood at home and they have a location that's not on a floodplain and it has access to sewer and electrical we can place a unit there with the governor and the communities and individuals on appropriate locations if that becomes part of the solution what you see is a timeline on the determination we expect within the next week we'll have an answer from headquarters general after the Maui fires FEMA came out with a top line number of what it thought the damage was from that disaster top line number yet out of FEMA about what you think the flooding or have I missed it we've discussed before looking at the total number of people who have been impacted by that what will happen is we continue to work with them on a rental assistance and that's really what's fulfilling the need right now for those who have been displaced from their homes and as I mentioned there's over a thousand people right now who are receiving rental assistance still staying in a location that was impacted and receive rental assistance the question is how many people are going to look for a a long term permanent location to be at up to 18 months but I don't think I'm answering the question properly estimated total damages of the flooding to Vermont if you know I don't know that we've got over 500 families or 500 people working with right now who have either destroyed or substantially damaged homes if that helps I think you're not asking about a dollar amount right? I am I don't have that for you we can see that we have something close to that but right now I don't have that exact number for you on requested direct housing does that mean Vermont has requested FEMA trailers or so direct housing there's a number of different programs incorporating that multi family locations locations that have either three or more units so that FEMA can lease for those is one of the options a direct lease where we can find locations to lease for people or the mobile homes or recreational vehicles for all options on the table could you confirm for us whether or not the window for the first disaster application is actually closed now that folks in Addison County didn't make it and the possibility of a second application? Yes sir so I can confirm that the incident period has closed on the 17th of July I can confirm that Addison County didn't meet the indicators required to be declared as a count of our individual assistance does it strike you a little odd that a geographical line will determine assistance that you can go a quarter mile across the Addison County line in the Brooklyn County and that person is covered? the nature of it is that the way the law regulations and policy are written we actually work by the county and so it's based upon the county line is the way it operates what's the law that you were talking about last week you know maybe try to have another application is that likely? there's two things I want to add to what was just mentioned by General Roy the period they have notifies the period is closed we respectfully disagree and are asking them to reopen it at that point in time it's up to them whether they reopen it and consider some of our arguments for support during a longer period of time if they disagree at that point we can formally appeal then and we'll see where it goes at the same time we're accumulating all of the damage that was done in Addison County specifically in the August storms as well so we'll see if there's another declaration at that point we believe and again we'll make this argument that everything is connected even though there are different storm systems the first storm really created a lot of havoc in terms of culverts and so forth and the saturation of the water and the ground level and so at that point we feel that even storms that weren't as significant as the first created just as much damage as a result and just the accumulation of many different storm systems but repeated over days and again we're going to determine whether we can meet the threshold for another declaration for Addison County as well can I miss anything there in the process of figuring out if you do have to file an appeal is that process at the same place it was last week when we spoke to you or has anything happened nothing has happened in that regard they came to their determination to close the period we were notified of that I think yesterday maybe the day before and so at this point we're going to be formally requesting to reopen that and it isn't an appeal it's more reopening that decision and then then go from there I don't know it's on their time frame this is in regard to the degree what the state's long term environment is concerned regarding the degree and the importance of getting certain degrees cleaned up first on the 26 well I'm sorry what was the last part I guess it seems like a primary focus of certain degrees that need to be cleaned up on the 26 by a certain degree I mean we're trying we would like to get most of the degree picked up by the end of the month by the end of August and that includes all the degree we've seen in Barry and Montpelier and as an aside when we look at the totals of the tonnage of debris it's now I'm going to it's about 1600 tons I believe in Montpelier the debris has like 3,700 tons that we've picked up already so that number is continuing to grow the most significant amount is in the Barry area I haven't heard that there is a capacity issue there at this point Governor of all the needs in the state right now how do you determine or did Ernie determine that $100,000 towards the mobile home demolition and removal cost was the best way to to spend this money? well again that's an unmet need it's something we found after Irene that all the costs depend you know with FEMA will determine how much damage they had and if they can't go back into their and it depends on the value of the mobile home itself from there they're still responsible for deconstruction of that home and moving it off from the rented space so that's not included anywhere that's not something that FEMA reimburses for so that's when we came and put a program together after Irene to take care of that and we want to do something similar this time around because it's just again for those who are impacted and really struggling this is just an added expense that they don't need and was that a recognition that the amount that FEMA is going to cap the reimbursements to these people is almost certain to not be enough for them to replace their units? regardless the cap for FEMA is $40,000 that's all in but that's not what they reimburse, they reimburse the value of the structure itself so if you have a mobile home that's worth it's older, it's worth $7,000-$8,000 so that doesn't come close to replacement and then you add the costs of $3,000-$4,000 to dispose, deconstruct and dispose of the unit then all the money is gone so we wanted to do whatever we could to support that knowing that it's not enough so you don't need that $100,000 to make very well support about 20 or 25 or so I think we can do it I think we can take care of all of them with that amount of money because we're also going to leverage some of other organizations for support whether it's equipment to do it and things have changed a little bit we're able to FEMA will be taking care of the debris itself if we can move it to the right-of-way so that's changed from Irene it'll help we can do with a more efficient process Governor, the White House has submitted a I think $12 billion FEMA supplemental that comes into consideration they come back from their August recess I'm wondering whatever money Vermont gets from that will it be also liable for the same kinds of restrictions that FEMA finds that are available now or do you think they have more flexibility in the use of that money? I think they have to be more added to the supplemental bill by our congressional delegation to give us the flexibility to fully recover from this or partially recover from this so I know they're still working on it this was just I think the president decided to put the resources towards making sure that FEMA is whole but we're hopeful that the delegation will make some inroads to try and come up with more resources, dollars to take care of some other ongoing needs Governor, the sense or maybe updated the sense of how some of Vermont's homeless population is comparing during this crisis and are they eligible for FEMA relief funds as well? We did not distinguish between those who needed assistance because of the flooding they were displaced from their homes from those who were homeless before so they were able to come to the emergency shelters in all the communities that we had set those up we have currently due to lack of participation been able to put those on not completely closed but on standby and so we're not seeing we weren't seeing the need at that point in time from either those displaced from their home or the homeless population to utilize that those emergency shelters so I we have the general assistance program that is still in effect so we're doing all we can to help out I understood and do you know if let's just say somebody's pent and camping here and everything we've watched the wedding is that eligible for a reimbursement for FEMA? I don't I don't know I'll let General Roy if their personal belongings were impacted by the storm yes they are eligible for reimbursement from FEMA is that is that an application process in different ways no we have means by which people can apply for that or our DRCs we have nine DRCs all over the state and I think Governor as far as cleanup day how is the state going to make sure that aid is dispersed equitably like Barry and Montpelier are the classic example of volunteer effort being very disparate? I'm going to let Kate I think she's going to use their structure under green up day to use all of their resources to determine what's needed in the community and then use Sir Vermont as well to try and work together and take care of as much as needed as possible so we're asking towns to step forward that have the need some towns don't and that's great right but we're asking those towns to step forward we are promoting that this is public space litter the litter that's cleaned up will be public space not construction or flood debris and we will make sure that everyone is placed appropriately we will handle the disposal fees of that public space litter if there is money left over we will make sure that it is used in a way that helps other towns that might be in need with various other projects but all flood recovery public space litter related I think as well as a day of service in some respect to your community and it could be for anything that you might see that needs some assistance I was down on route 2 going out of Mt. Pilier towards Middlesex and I saw the debris had been picked up on a lot of the residents along the way but there's still debris left so I'm thinking let's get a rake ask the homeowner if they'd like you to clean that up and just present it a little bit better get them beyond the impact of the flooding so they can move forward but it can be as myopic as that it could be a neighborhood it could be a whole community it could be going out on a trail picking that up whatever you feel you can do to assist there were again welcoming people to Vermont and showcasing what we have to offer thank you all again Ernie thank you so much for all you've done would you like to say anything I'd like to thank 802 Subaru and Dave Birmingham for hosting this please give Dave a hand I live in Massachusetts but again Vermont is very close to my heart I have a house here and you guys got a great governor 100 there's another 100,000 on there so let's just keep that in mind alright thank you retailers retailers just gonna show people one more one more Michael Michael