Towong Council was this week one of 42 municipalities in the country to receive $1 million from the federal government for fire recovery, but is yet to work out the best way to spend the money.
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Mayor David Worttman was on Friday looking into the parameters of the funding, which was with the Victorian government.
One of the biggest problems the shire faced was what to do with waste after the fire that burnt through the region before the new year destroyed the Corryong Landfill and Transfer Station.
"We know there's going to be more waste after this," Cr Wortmann said.
"We're just stockpiling the waste at the moment."
He said a new pit at the landfill needed to be dug and lined to process the waste, but was unsure if this would be defined as bushfire recover by the federal government.
"This is an extremely resilient community who have already begun to get in and help each other and this funding will go a long way toward that recovery effort," he said.
"As the smallest rural municipality in Victoria, Towong Shire Council has limited resources to dedicate to what will be a really significant clean up, rebuilding and recovery effort, so this funding is critical in helping our communities get back on their feet as soon as possible."
Asked what the other priorities were for Towong, Cr Wortmann said "how long is a piece of string?", but committed to is working closely with the community to determine what is done first.
With roads closed and the bushfire still active, the council had not yet assessed what roads or bridges had been damaged during the emergency.
Cr Wortmann said he spoke to Premier Daniel Andrews and Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp during their visit to the North East on Thursday and was confident of support from the Victorian government.
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Another major issue was power to the towns.
While those in Corryong had power, many others were still in the dark.
Two generators were delivered to the isolated Walwa township on Thursday to help residents, but the council said it would only restore a limited supply to 70 customers.
Financial Services Assistant Minister Jane Hume said the $1 million would be provided to Towong on Friday and it was up to the council to decide the best way to use the money.
"This could go into rebuilding or improving bridges or roads and other community infrastructure right now," she said.
"It can also go to hiring staff to help with the recovery, or staging local events to attract more tourists and business to Upper Murray region."
The funding was also welcomed by Indi MP Helen Haines.
"They will have no trouble spending it because their outlays have been huge in just this fire response, let alone fire recovery," she said.
"There's going to be just so much work to be done, that $1 million I hope will just be the beginning.
"This is going to be an ongoing recovery process, we're not out of the immediate fire issue."
Snowy Valleys Council was also on the list in NSW to receive the $1 million in immediate funding.
The next battle for funding may be over the disaster recovery allowance, which Dr Haines said is still at the same level is was more than a decade ago.
"The disaster recovery payment hasn't changed since Black Saturday in 2009, it hasn't increased with inflation," she said.
"I've written to (Natural Disaster and Emergency Management) Minister (David) Littleproud about that, to review the level of the disaster recovery payment and have it indexed so it's the same level of support it was back in 2009."
The allowance is payable for up to 13 weeks, but with the fires predicted to last for months, Dr Haines wants that extended to up to 26 weeks.
A change would require the government to alter its legislation.
Both she and Farrer MP Sussan Ley praised the work of the CFA and RFS, which were working together on the fire that crossed the border before new year.
"Everywhere I go I am just overwhelmed by how good the response is and how extraordinary our communities are in pitching in and working together - it's brilliant," Dr Haines said.
More help is on the way
More council areas in the North East are in need of emergency funding from the federal government to not only deal with the immediate fire damage, but huge amounts of lost tourist revenue for businesses.
Farrer MP Sussan Ley said the funding for Towong and Snowy Valleys councils was important, but the Commonwealth had not received a request from the NSW government for the same for Upper Murray.
She said more assistance would follow.
"You can expect to see further assistance supporting emotional wellbeing," she said.
Many firefighters were soon expected to "hit the wall" after running on adrenaline for weeks while working long hours, and the government was looking at using the Australian Defence Force to help during the recovery to give them a break.
Ms Ley said access on roads was vital to communities so they could go home and have power restored.
But Indi MP Helen Haines has also written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, requesting emergency funding also go to Alpine and Wangaratta councils, which are dealing with serious bushfires, and Wodonga and Indigo councils, which are using resources to help their neighbours.
Alpine Shire told the MP its economic loss from loss of new year tourism would be at least $90 million.
"We've had businesses telling us that their takings in the Christmas-New Year period are down anywhere between 60 and 80 per cent already," Dr Haines said.
"Numerous events have been cancelled - the Alpine Class, Day on the Green over at Rutherglen, there's question marks over other upcoming events, the Nariel Creek Folk Festival in Towong was evacuated.
"These are the festival that are so significant for our tourism businesses."