(The Center Square) − New Orleans officials are pressing ahead with more than $50 million in new street contracts even as the federal funding they are counting on is set to expire at the end of the year.
If a key deadline is not extended, the city would be exposed to tens of millions in unreimbursed costs.
At a City Council meeting Thursday, staff disclosed that the city has executed over $50 million in road-repair contracts tied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Joint Infrastructure Recovery Request, or JIRR, program. The work is supposed to be paid for with FEMA disaster money that must be spent by Dec. 31 unless the agency approves another extension…