PALM BEACH COUNTY
PUBLIC NOTICE
FLORIDA CDBG DISASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM

The Florida’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA) recently announced that $81,063,855 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Initiative (DRI) funding has been made available to the State by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to assist with the costs of repairing damage caused by Tropical Storm Fay.

Palm Beach County is eligible to receive up to $6,533,405 of this funding for activities to recover from Tropical Storm Fay. While all local municipalities, County Departments, and non-profit agencies are eligible to participate, Palm Beach County Housing and Community Development (PBC HCD) has been designated as the local administering entity to coordinate the preparation of a consolidated countywide funding proposal.

Eligible activities must be directly related to recovery from damage caused by Fay, and include single-family and multi-family housing repair and  rehabilitation for low- and moderate income persons; the repair or improvement of damaged public infrastructure; repairs and improvements to damaged buildings in commercial or business areas. All activities must be directly related to Tropical Storm Fay. 

All organizations seeking Disaster Recovery Program funding must send their proposed activities to PBC HCD, using the funding application available on at this website, CLICK HERE FOR THE APPLICATION. To obtain the funding application via email, contact LaToya G. Ricketts, DRI Specialist, at lrickett@pbcgov.com. Please do not open the application without saving it first on your system.

In order for the County to meet DCA’s approaching deadline, all completed funding applications must be received by HCD at 100 Australian Avenue, Suite 500, West Palm Beach, no later than 5:00p.m., Friday, November 20, 2009.  One (1) original hard copy and two (2) photocopies of the completed application, with all attachments, must be submitted.  Applications may not be transmitted electronically (neither email nor fax).

To become more familiar with DCA’s program requirements, interested groups are strongly encouraged to review program materials on DCA’s website: http://www.dca.state.fl.us/fhcd/cdbg/disasterrecovery.cfm. For the sake of convenience, some of the DRI’s highlights are summarized below:

• Funds must be used for repairs and long-term recovery from damages caused by Tropical Storm Fay.
• The LMI National Objective must be met for all housing activities. Additionally, all assisted housing units must have all structural deficiencies corrected as necessary to meet current local building codes.
• New housing construction or new development is ineligible, except for the expansion of facilities that serve the community or the replacement of storm-damaged housing that cannot be adequately brought up to safety and health standards (building codes).
• All activities must be directly related to Tropical Storm Fay of 2008, and documentation of such must be provided for each activity.
• Activities that are eligible for funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), or hazard insurance proceeds cannot be undertaken with Disaster Recovery Program funds. Moreover, all applicants will be required to certify and to document that no other funding is available to address the activity need.
• Palm Beach County is required to target fourteen percent (14%) of its funds for affordable rental housing activities.
• Palm Beach County will retain 2.5% of the total funding amount for program administration costs.

Should you have questions, please contact HCD’s Planning Section, at (561) 233-3606. Additionally, check HCD’s website periodically for relevant application-related updates.

 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA), THIS AD MAY BE REQUESTED IN AN ALTERNATIVE FORMAT.  PLEASE CONTACT HCD AT (561) 233-3606.

PUBLISH:  October 18, 2009