Berkeley Lake leaders will meet with FEMA officials Friday morning, hoping the agency reconsiders how much it's willing to chip in on repairs to the Berkeley Lake dam.
The earthen dam, one of the state's largest, suffered a 32-foot-long slope failure during September's floods. The city estimates repairs will run about $4 million and was banking on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for 75 percent of the work.
In a meeting last week with city and state officials, FEMA said it was willing to repair only damage seen with the naked eye, amounting to less than $500,000, city engineer Rich Edinger said. He contends the 500-year storm also battered the dam's internal drain system.
However, FEMA maintains Berkeley Lake wants the agency to go beyond the scope of the storm's damage, footing the bill for a major renovation to the dam built in 1947.
The meeting will be closed to the public. The city will hold a town hall meeting on March 13 to update residents and answer questions.
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