Re-posted from: Vermont Community Development Program – Josh Hanford, Director (josh.hanford@state.vt.us) Dear Interested Parties; As many of you know, the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development (DEHCD) will receive $21,660,211 from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. The official notice of this funding, the Federal Register Notice, was released on April 16, 2012 and is attached here. It contains the rules, regulations and process for the DEHCD to access the funding allocated to Vermont. DEHCD has 90 days to develop an Action Plan which identifies the unmet and long term recovery needs of the area’s most impacted and distressed as the result of declared major disasters in Vermont in 2011. These major disasters include FEMA Disaster Declaration 1995 (April 23-May 9, 2011 flood), FEMA Disaster Declaration 4001 (May 26-27, 2011 flood), and of course FEMA Disaster Declaration 4022 (August 27- September 2, 2011 Tropical Storm Irene). These funds will be available to help communities with the necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas receiving major disaster declarations. The Federal Notice requires the state to target at least 80 percent of this funding ($17,328,169) to Washington and Windsor Counties. DEHCD request to HUD, to expand the 80 percent targeting requirement to include Windham and Rutland Counties was denied. The state has committed to use some portion of this allocation to help municipalities meet the 25% match for property buy-outs under the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). DEHCD is in the process of determining the other unmet needs and uses of the CDBG-DR funds. DEHCD is currently soliciting input on unmet needs through surveys, input from stakeholders and partners. It appears likely that CDBG-DR funding will be available to address the long term recovery needs of housing, economic development and infrastructure. Specific allocations of funding for housing, economic development and infrastructure have yet to be determined. These specifics along with proposed levels of funding for planning and project implementation will be outlined in the Draft Disaster Action Plan prepared by DEHCD. DEHCD is targeting to have the Draft Disaster Action Plan available in late May. Public Hearings will be made available for comments and questions on the Draft Disaster Action Plan. The Public Hearing schedule is as follows:
June 5, 2012 – 11:30am – 1:30pm, Latchis Theater Studio 4 in Brattleboro, VT
June 7, 2012 – 3:30 – 5:30pm, Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction, VT
June 12, 2012 – 5:00 – 7:00pm, Montpelier Lost Nation Theater in Montpelier VT
The Public Hearing Notice will be published in area newspapers and posting of the Draft Disaster Action Plan will be available on the following websites http://www.dhca.state.vt.us/VCDP and http://vtstrong.vermont.gov HUD is expected to approve Vermont’s Disaster Action Plan within 45 days of receipt. Based on this timeline, DEHCD plans to make applications forms for CDBG-DR funding available by late August – early September. CDBG-DR funding can only be used to address needs that can’t be met by insurance proceeds, FEMA, SBA, other state, local or federal programs and charitable funding. Projects must address an impact related to Major Disaster Declarations within a county that received a Presidential disaster declaration in 2011. They must also be a CDBG-eligible activity and address a national objective such as benefitting low and moderate income people or addressing an urgent need. One of the best ways to prepare for the successful use of these funds is to pursue and document each of these other funding sources as quickly as possible. Should you have further questions regarding CDBG-DR funding please email your question to ACCD.CDBGDisasterRecovery@state.vt.us . Please visit http://vtstrong.vermont.gov/ for more information on Vermont’s recovery efforts. Federal Register Notice April 16, 2012