Community Impact reports that on May 21st Montgomery County Commissioners unanimously approved $79,000 to submit two grant applications for a fiscal year 2024 amended Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Assistance grant opportunity.
According to Commissioners Court documents, in April, FEMA stated that the FMA 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity would reopen. A proposal was requested by the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management from Hagerty Consulting Inc. for the development and submission of up to two subapplications for the FMA 2024 amended funding.
Executive Director of the Homeland and Emergency Management Office, Jason Millsaps, passed along that Montgomery County had success for several years in FMA buyouts, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray did a project scope for his precinct in one year.
Throughout the four precincts, Millsaps said 144 properties have already been bought in Montgomery County. Another 50 properties would potentially be allowed by the grant to be bought out, and it has already identified around half of those, according to Millsaps.
The application in two parts includes Buyouts where there is no cost to the county if awarded a grant, which will pay for the full cost of the program and Project Scope where the project will look to identify shovel-ready flood mitigation projects in Precincts 1, 2, and 3.
Coming from contingency funds, commissioners approved that the funding source for the $79,900 be paid to Hagerty. Millsaps said upon award of the buyout projects the amount can be reimbursed.
$900,000 is the maximum amount that can be awarded for the project scope with a county cost match of 25 percent, or 225,000 according to Millsaps. He also added that there is no match needed for buyouts.
