SARANAC LAKE – More than five years after the Saranac River surged over its banks and damaged a retaining wall behind the Harrietstown Town Hall, the town will get paid for the full amount of its replacement.

The town recently won an appeal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the cost of the new retaining wall and will be awarded $388,000, according to town Supervisor Mike Kilroy. FEMA had previously said it would only give the town $219,000.

“$388,000 was what we spent,” Kilroy said, “but they said we shouldn’t have done the whole thing, and we should have moved the telephone poles back where they were after we moved them to put the wall in.

“Five years later, we’re going to get the entire amount. It’s a win for the good guys.”

The original retaining wall was damaged in April 2011 when the river, fueled by a combination of heavy rain and spring snowmelt, overflowed its banks. Getting it replaced took more than three years. Town officials have said that’s because the project required a long list of approvals from the state Adirondack Park Agency, Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Transportation, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA.

Work on a new, taller retaining wall started in June 2014 and wrapped up late that summer. The project also involved the relocation of a utility pole behind the building and the purchase of a new generator for the town hall. The town borrowed money to do the work.

“That was my complaint (to FEMA),” Kilroy said. “I said, ‘We had to go out and borrow this money.’ We don’t go out and tell the contractors, ‘You’ll get your money when we get ours.’ I’ve been budgeting $45,000 every year for a (bond anticipation note) payment. Finally, we’ll get our money back.”

The town has so far only been awarded $117,000 from FEMA. Instead of expecting another $102,000, the town will now see an additional $271,000, which Kilroy said will be used to pay off the loan.

Town Councilman Ron Keough credited Kilroy for his persistence in trying to get the town paid for the full amount of the work. The supervisor said he sent letters to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, state Sen. Betty Little and Assemblywoman Janet Duprey.

“I haven’t heard one word from Schumer or Gillibrand since this thing started,” Kilroy said, “but Stefanik, as soon as I write something or call her, she calls me back or her secretary does and writes letters. I got a feeling she had something to do with it.

“And I’m not a Republican,” added Kilroy, a lifelong Democrat. Stefanik is a first-term Republican from Willsboro, seeking re-election this fall. “She has certainly worked hard for this.”

In addition to winning its appeal on the retaining wall funding, FEMA has also awarded the town more funding for replacement of a culvert on Coreys Road that was damaged in the spring 2011 floods. FEMA had previously awarded the town about $4,300 for a project that cost $60,000.

“They’re going to give us another $30,000,” Kilroy said. “Hey, we’ll take it.”