Federal and Mississippi emergency management officials offeredinformation Thursday to area city and county government leaders andpublic service organizations about recouping some of their costsassociated with responding to Hurricane Katrina.

MEMA Public Assistance Officer Larry Bowman said he hopes theprocess can be done more quickly than during previous disasters. Headvised patience, though, due to the widespread nature of thedisaster.

“We’re going to get to you as quickly as possible,” Bowmansaid.

Bowman said the public assistance is supplemental in nature. Hesaid agencies would not be getting all of their costs covered.

“You’re going to get a good percentage of your costs,” Bowmansaid.

Bowman said reasonable costs would be covered under the publicassistance program. Regular personnel time would not be covered,but credit could be given for volunteer assistance in responding tothe emergency.

Also, he stressed that damage reported must have occurred duringthe disaster period.

“This in one of the critical things,” Bowman said.

Lincoln County Administrator David Fields said a total of howmuch the county had spent on disaster response had not beenprepared. He said all invoices had not been turned in.

“It’s not a tremendous amount, mostly payroll,” Fields said.

In the city, Mayor Bob Massengill said approximately 7,000 cubicyards of debris have been picked up by the city crews. He said thecity will try to be reimbursed for that work, which was estimatedat over $100,000 based on contractor rates.

The city and county are also working toward U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers’ assistance for debris cleanup.

Steve Moreton, the city’s public works director, said city crewswill now focus on smaller debris areas. Areas with large debriswill be left for corps assistance.

“We’re going to back off those and work where we can make adifference with what we pick up,” Moreton said.