Richland County Council unanimously approved its Blue Ribbon Committee’s recommendation to proceed with full applications of 17 flood recovery and mitigation projects. The projects are eligible for funding through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).
The projects range from dam armoring to culvert improvements to the buyout of homes and businesses. Only the pre-applications for these projects have been approved. Now with Council’s, permission, full applications will be filed with the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) and FEMA.
Through the projects, 15 non residential and 63 residential structures will be acquired and demolished. These properties are in the floodway or special flood hazard area (Floodway and Flood fringe) and were substantially damaged during October’s historic rain event and flood. For a complete listing of the 17 projects, click here.
Through its Blue Ribbon Committee, the county has also identified more projects to be funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR).
$23.5 million has been allocated to help presidentially-declared disaster areas recover by funding a broad range of recovery activities related to housing, infrastructure and economic development.
The county will host a series of 10 Community Flood Recovery Meetings where officials will seek public opinion and input.
Through a press release, Richland County Recovery Chief Michael King encouraged every Richland County resident to get involved.
“The community outreach meetings will provide our residents the opportunity to meet with key recovery personnel and provide their input and recommendations regarding the direction for Richland County in the Long Term Recovery Process,” said Richland County Recovery Chief Michael King.
The Community Flood Recovery Meetings will be held as follows:
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. June 29, Trenholm Park, 3900 Covenant Road, Columbia
- 6 p.m.-8 p.m. June 29, Ballentine Community Center, 1009 Bickley Road, Irmo
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. June 30, North Springs Park, 1320 Clemson Road, Columbia
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. June 30, St. Andrews Park, 920 Beatty Road, Columbia
- 7 p.m.- 9 p.m. July 12, Richland County Sheriff's Dept. Substation, 2615 Lower Richland Blvd., Columbia
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. July 12, Crane Creek Community Center, 7405 Fairfield Road, Columbia
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. July 13, Eastover Park, 1031 Main St., Eastover
- 6 p.m.-8 p.m. July 13, Parklane Road Adult Activity Center, 7494 Parklane Road, Columbia
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. July 14, Richland County Administration Building, 2020 Hampton St., Columbia
- 7 p.m.-9 p.m. July 14, Gadsden Park Community Center, 1668 S Goodwin Circle, Gadsden
Input gathered from the public will be used to compose the required Action Plan for Flood Recovery, which will be submitted to HUD and detail the specific flood recovery activities sought to be covered by the $23.5 million grant.
Links and Information
For updates on flood recovery, www.rcgov.us/floodrecovery
For flood recovery questions, by residents, call the United Way’s 2-1-1 information and referral hotline or email recovery@rcgov.us.
Update:
This summer, Richland County officials held 14 meetings to seek input from the community about how to spend the $23.5 million Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). These funds were allocated to Richland County through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for unmet flood recovery needs.
Richland County has now made the Action Plan available for residents and business owners to review online at www.rcgov.us/floodrecovery (available in English, Spanish, and Korean).
A hard copy of the document is available for the public at the Community Development Office located on the third floor of the Richland County Administration Building at 2020 Hampton St., Columbia.
Residents may provide feedback until September 9, 2016 by emailing recovery@rcgov.us or calling Recovery Chief Mike King at 803-731-8362.