Montgomery County commissioners on May 21 voted 5-0 to approve $79,900 to submit two grant applications for a fiscal year 2024 amended Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Mitigation Assistance grant opportunity.
The big picture
In April, FEMA announced that the FMA 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity would reopen, according to Commissioners Court documents. The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management requested a proposal from Hagerty Consulting Inc. for the development and submission of up to two subapplications for the FMA 2024 amended funding.
Jason Millsaps, executive director of MCOHSEM, said Montgomery County was successful for several years in FMA buyouts, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray did a project scope for his precinct in one year.
Millsaps said 144 properties have already been bought in Montgomery County throughout the four precincts. The grant would potentially allow another 50 properties to be bought out, and it has already identified about half of those, Millsaps said. The two-part application includes:
- Buyouts: There is no cost to the county if awarded a grant, which will pay for the full cost of the program.
- Project scope: The project will look to identify shovel-ready flood mitigation projects in Precincts 1, 2 and 3.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray has already scoped his precinct with around 14 projects that will be ready to apply for when opportunities under future hazardous mitigation grants are available, Millsaps said.
The cost
Commissioners decided that the funding source for the $79,900 to be paid to Hagerty would be from contingency funds. That amount can be reimbursed upon award of the buyout projects, Millsaps said.
“We will pay Hagerty to develop the application, the benefit cost analysis, we do the scoping on the project itself and then all of the requests for information with FEMA and the Texas Water Development Board … as the applications move forward in the process, Hagerty will assist our office with that,” Millsaps said.
The maximum amount that can be awarded for the project scope is $900,000 with a county cost match of 25%, or $225,000, Millsaps said. However, there’s no match needed for buyouts.
Bottom line
Millsaps said the FEMA deadline is 30 days after the state’s deadline. The state’s deadline is June 23, so the county will need to work with the state now to meet the deadline.
“If we’re granted the award under scoping, then I’ll come back to the court and give you all the options,” Millsaps said.