CITY AWAITS FEMA FUNDS; AGENCY'S DECISION ON STORM REPAIRS EXPECTED TODAY.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

City officials will learn this morning how much money the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide to fix damage resulting from February's El Nino storms.

The city has estimated that FEMA will pay about 75 percent of the repair costs, which probably will be greater than $650,000, said city Emergency Preparedness Manager Adele Macpherson.

A large portion of the money will go toward repair costs for the Bouquet Canyon Road bridge, where a 15-foot-wide sinkhole was discovered Feb. 24 following the largest storm this season. The bridge was closed for more than three days while Los Angeles County crews fixed the damage.

``The council originally approved $650,000 for repairs, but it may be more because we are finding more damage as we go along,'' Macpherson said.

A consultant has been hired to issue a report on damage to city property and the cost of repairs, Macpherson said.

On Feb. 26, President Clinton declared Los Angeles County a federal disaster area. Typically, FEMA, the state and the city split repair costs for damages after a natural disaster, Macpherson said. If FEMA pays 75 percent of repairs, the state likely will pay 75 percent of the remaining 25 percent share, she said. The city would pay the rest.

Today's meeting in Pasadena with FEMA officials also will allow city administrators from all over Los Angeles County to get information on the various agency policies, Macpherson said.

``They go over programs, changes in regulations, all sorts of things - how to do this, how to do that,'' Macpherson said. ``All of the local cities and special districts go. We'll find out all the regulations that cover this particular disaster.''

If Macpherson sounds familiar with disaster procedure, it's because she has been instrumental in gaining federal and state disaster aid in 1992, 1993 and 1995 to repair storm damage and in 1994 for damage due to the Northridge Earthquake.