Ohio Valley Long Term Recovery Committee

Ohio Valley Long Term Recovery Committee

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

Tuesday, October 18, 2016 – 10:00 a.m.

Norwood Community Senior Center

Minutes of Meeting

Members Present

Jennifer Bieger – United Way of Greater Cincinnati

Tanya Cook – City of Norwood Resident and Volunteer

JamesDinkel – Tri-State COAD

Haley Elkins – Junior League of Cincinnati

Ryan McEwan – Hamilton County EMHSA

Marilyn Wall – Sierra Club

Elizabeth Zak – Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio

1. Call to Order: Chair James Dinkel called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m.

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

1. Member Updates:

Chair Dinkel kicked off the meeting by discussing a recent conversation he had with Ms. Ann Newsom from Metropolitan Sewer District. Ms. Newsom told Chair Dinkel that residents were slowly getting claims sheets turned in, and as of the time of their conversation approximately 530 claims had been started. Chair Dinkel reminded the committee that as more claims were processed by MSD, the LTRC would begin receiving more information. There was a brief recap of the numbers provided at the previous meeting, and no new numbers were available without an MSD representative at the meeting.

Ms. Bieger pointed out that what the LTRC was missing was the process piece for how MSD would share information with the LTRC. Ms. Bieger stated that the case manager task force had a telephone call, and on the call Mr. John Pyron stated that they still needed to identify exactly what the needs were for the case manager, for the purposes of the application. Ms. Bieger said that what the LTRC needs to do is a community needs assessment, to get a better idea of what the needs are and what LTRC’s role should be.

Ms. Cook stated that the Facebook page was not getting many requests for help at this point, now that people have turned to MSD. She stated that at the beginning there was more need for the group, but now that MSD was helping people, there is less confusion than there was initially after the flood.

Chair Dinkel said that the group should continue to meet while MSD figures out its process. He said that if we were in a federally declared disaster area, the process would be different and easier to predict. However, our situation with MSD is unique. Plus, we do not know if the county will provide any additional assistance to those who experienced overland flooding as opposed to sewer back-up. Statements previously made by Commissioner Portune left the group unclear as to what Hamilton County would provide.

Ms. Bieger then asked what would be done about those who had not yet reached out to MSD. Specifically, how specific segments of the county would be reached through canvassing or other outreach. Ms. Elkins said that the Junior League had volunteers who would be willing to go door-to-door. Chair Dinkel said that what we needed was a better map from MSD;better information would allow the group to know which areas to target. Chair Dinkel also reminded the group that when the weather gets colder there was likely to be an influx of new cases.

Ms. Zak added that Legal Aid would be a good conduit of assistance for those that had not yet filed a claim, or those who had issues filing a claim. Legal Aid of Southwest Ohio would be able to assist with the claim submission process, as well as help individuals whose claim was denied. According to Ms. Zak, MSD issued a Press Release on October 17 by MSD ( stated that MSD would not reimburse for homes that had experienced overland flooding only.

There was discussion amongst the group as to whether or not vehicles would be covered by MSD and in the claims process. According to Ms. Zak, it is in individual’s best interest to submit vehicles for reimbursement, even if MSD denies. This issue will likely be decided in the courts and the group moved forward in the discussion of how best the LTRC could help individuals.

Mr. McEwan asked the group to review what actions needed to be taken moving forward. The LTRC agreed that more information was needed from MSD, specifically the number of claims to date, the number of denials, the process for how denials will be referred to the LTRC, what items were being covered by MSD, an updated map of the affected areas, and whether or not MSD would be holding a fifth public forum for affected individuals.

The LTRC agreed that it would be better to do outreach to connect with those who had not been reached, and discussed doing door-to-door outreach sooner rather than later. Mr. McEwan pointed out that it would be better to do the outreach before the weather got too cold, and Ms. Elkins added it was better to do it before the next MSD Public Meeting so residents could be directed to that meeting, where claims managers would be present.

The LTRC set a tentative date for outreach on Saturday, October 29, starting mid-morning and going into early afternoon. Ms. Elkins discussed the need to give those going out a brief training before they began, and Ms. Zak said Legal Aid would have someone present to give information on behalf of Legal Aid. Mr. McEwan said it would be best to have someone from MSD present at the training as well. The flyers passed out during door-to-door survey would have information from MSD, Legal Aid, Public Health, mental health services, and the LTRC. Mr. McEwan suggested directing people to the LTRC website instead of using the LTRC phone number, as the phone number went directly to Chair Dinkel’s personal cell phone.

The LTRC discussed distributing magnets with information, and asked if the EMHSA had any funding. Mr. McEwan said that he would see what they had available. Ms. Elkins said that the Junior League could use printing support, and Mr. McEwan said the EMHSA would print the flyers on bright colored paper.

Ms. Bieger and Ms. Wall asked about what kind of information those going door-to-door would be collecting. Mr. McEwan recommended that the groups going out were not collecting information as much as ensuring that everyone affected by the flooding new where to go to start the process. Ms. Elkins added that anecdotal evidence would give us a better picture of what the needs were. The LTRC agreed that it would discuss this during the training prior to outreach.

Chair Dinkel said he would reach out to MSD about getting up-to-date information and to discuss the potential time and date of the next public meeting. Ms. Elkins volunteered to put together the flyer and sent it to Mr. McEwan for printing. Ms. Zak said she would send the Legal Aid information to Ms. Elkins.

1. Review of Minutes from October 11, 2016: After a quick correct from Ms. Bieger, the minutes from the October 11, 2016 meeting were motioned for approval by Ms. Bieger and seconded by Ms. Elkins. The minutes were approved unanimously (7-0).

1. Adjournment: Chair Dinkel adjourned the meeting at 11:34. a.m. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in the Norwood Community Senior Center.