R2002-166 AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF APPLICATION

Home Browse Search

I � . � the City Council asking that this matter be reconsidered. City staff did not forward this matter back to the City Council given its decision ar�d considered it a�ipropriate that one of the residents wanting sponsorship ask through a council member or at a Cc:uncil me�;ting that this matter be reconsidered. This matter was not reintroduced at a Council meeting and Mr. Stewart was planning to speak at the Council meeting of August 19, but was late in attending the meeting because of work to speak during the time for the appearance of citizens. He did speak to Council Member Edwards and the Mayor after the meeting was adjourned. There have been questions by council members regarding the City's obligations in making the pre-application and subsequent application to IEMA. The City's role as noted in a FEMA publication is as follows: • Submit individual project applications to the State (if the proposed measure is selected as an approved project, the applicant becomes a subgrantee). • Coordinate with participating homeowners and businesses who will benefit from the grant to develop the application, and subsequently oversee distribution of grant funds to sub recipients or contractors. • Manage implementation of the approved project. • Comply with all HMGP requirements and applicable Federal, State and Iacal laws :nd standards, including compliance with National Flood Insurance Program. • Account for the appropriate use of grants to the State grantee. • Maintain records on the program and projects as required by law. As the above items note, there will be staff time associated with administration should the City receive a grant. In addition, if a project is approved, the City will have to prepare and have approved by IEMA within one year after the project approval a local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP). The Macon County Emergency Service & Disaster Agency (ESDA) is already in the process of having a training workshop organized for preparing such plans. A major question and concern to the City Council is whether the City is committed to any cost share of a project that receives favorable consideration by IEMA/FEMA by simply being a sponsor. IEMA's response to this question was that the City is not committed to any cost share by being a sponsor. If an outside match cannot be found, the City would not sign the grant agreement. City staff has prepared an HMGP application to submit to IEMA subject to�City Council approval. A copy of the application is attached. It should be noted that the two acquisition projects proposed in the pre-application have been deleted following discussions with an IEMA representative. These projects were originally included at the request of IEMA. In the case of the property at 550 Southside Drive, the use on the property that prompted past claims has been abandoned and it basically is a pond. The property at 2255 W. Marietta Street which was of specific attention to Council when this matter was first presented did not file a flood loss claim to IEMA following the May storms. For this reason, the IEMA representative commented there may be reason to not include this property in the City's application and that IEMA's records may not be current on the status of this property. Whether deleting these proposed projects will affect the City's grant application is not known. The HMGP is a matching grant type program. Federal funding is 75 percent of the project cost and the and remaining 25 percent is non-Federal funding. City staff has not committed the City . Page 2 �