Title
Consider and take action on a resolution authorizing the submission of Grant Applications to the Texas Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the Texas Water Development Board Flood Protection Grant Program, and the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program for various City-wide drainage projects (Director of Engineering)
Background:
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Manager to submit applications for various drainage related projects to the Texas Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Texas Water Development Board Flood Protection Grant Program (TWDB), and the H-GAC administered Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR). These programs have been funded to assist with disaster relief related to Hurricane Harvey and its related flooding.
The HMGP program is funded by FEMA and administered by the State of Texas. The HMGP provides federal funds for up to 75% of the costs associated with mitigation projects. At this time, there is not a timeframe for HMGP applications to be submitted for consideration, but the award process is a competitive process and not all projects submitted will be awarded funds. It is important to note that the majority of drainage related improvement projects Staff have identified to date will fall into this program.
The TWDB program has authorized up to $1,800,000 for assistance for flood protection grants during fiscal years 2018 and 2019. This program will only look at applications submitted prior to July 11, 2018, and projects awarded grant funds must be completed before August 31, 2021. This program is specifically looking for projects related to Flood Protection Planning (before a flood event), Flood Early Warning Systems (before/during a flood event) and Flood Response (during or after a flood event). It is the intent of this program to award up to 50% of a project’s cost, but not to exceed $300,000. Staff feels that the City will have some projects that could meet these requirements. It is important to note that grant awards under this program can be used as matching funds for the HMGP awarded projects.
The CDBG-DR program has provided H-GAC $130 million for local infrastructure improvements. League City is provided a portion of these funds (as of May 25, 2018 approximately $6.8 million) for infrastructure improvements. This program requires that 70% of the funds benefit low-moderate income households. H-GAC is working to see if the 70% LMI can be lowered to 50% as was done with previous disaster recovery funds. Staff is reviewing projects to see if identified projects can be structured to meet this requirement or if any new projects will fall into this category. Staff feels that there may be some projects that can fall into these parameters, but a substantial portion of the currently identified projects will not unless H-GAC is successful in reducing the LMI to 50%. It is important to note that grant awards under this program can be used as matching funds for the HMGP awarded projects.
Staff anticipates having approximately 20 drainage related projects submitted for various types of Grant Funding.
Attachments:
1. Data Sheet
2. Proposed Resolution
3. Identified Project Tracking Sheet
4. HMGP Fact Sheets
5. TWDB Application Requirements
6. CDBG-DR Fact Sheets
FUNDING
{X} NOT APPLICABLE
{ } Funds are available from Account #_________________
{ } Requires Budget Amendment to transfer from Account #_____to Account # ________