'Flood czar' Eyerly will push FEMA to settle Iowa claims
By Rick Smith
The Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS — City Hall's new floodrecovery director says he will push the Federal Emergency Management Agency to quickly settle damage claims with the city on its key flood-damaged city buildings.
Greg Eyerly, who will take a leave of absence from his current post as the city's utilities operations manager to assume the post of flood-recovery director, said Tuesday that FEMA and the city's damage estimates on some city facilities continue to differ even now, a year after the June 2008 flood.
"We've got to work on that process with FEMA and make that move a lot faster and get some valuations in there that are going to help us rebuild the way we want to," Eyerly said.
The appointment of the 44-year-old, who joined the city's utilities operation in March 2008 after working in the private sector in Oregon, must be confirmed by the City Council at its meeting this evening.
Thirty-one people applied for the flood-recovery director job, and a nine-member selection committee picked Eyerly from among four finalists. Committee members included City Manager Jim Prosser, council member Chuck Wieneke, Lt. Gen.
Ron Dardis, who heads up the Rebuild Iowa Office, and Tom Hobson, senior manager of public affairs at Rockwell Collins.
Rockwell Collins first pushed City Hall to hire a flood-recovery director.
The company, in a unique move, also agreed to pay -- with others in the private sector -- a portion of the position's cost.
On Tuesday, Hobson pointed to the "missionoriented" effort Eyerly made immediately after the June flood that helped rescue the city's water supply and get its wastewater treatment back on line in quick fashion.
Eyerly possesses the "collaboration, project management and communication skills necessary to succeed in the difficult job ahead for our community," Hobson said.
Eyerly currently earns $98,654 with the city and will be paid $114,275 in the new post, which starts July 13, said Conni Huber, the city's human resources director.
His current post will remain open and the duties divided among managers. The city's plan also calls for him to return to the Utilities Department once flood-recovery duties end, he said. The new job is year to year.
Eyerly, who holds a master's degree in business administration, expects to have an office at the temporary City Hall in northeast Cedar Rapids. He also plans to spend some of his time in neighborhood centers.
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