How should NJ spend $228.3 million in Ida recovery money? State wants your opinion
MANVILLE - The state will hold public hearings next month in Manville and Newark on how to spend $228.3 million in Ida recovery money.
The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has developed a 207-page action plan on how the federal money could be used to help households and communities recover from the catastrophic floods almost a year ago on Sept. 1, 2021.
The hearing in Manville, the community hit hardest by the flood, will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 8 in the auditorium of Manville High School, 1100 Brooks Blvd.
Another hearing will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12 in the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Campus Center Ballroom, 150 Bleeker St., Newark.
“We recognize that, for some areas, recovery from the catastrophic flooding and tornadoes caused by Hurricane Ida will take years. We also understand that $228 million is not nearly enough to address all the storm damage,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who also serves as DCA Commissioner. “Our goal in developing the action plan was to address the highest-level needs in vulnerable communities with an eye to mitigation and resiliency. Unfortunately, these severe storms keep happening with more frequency and we must prepare and protect ourselves in this new reality.”
The state is estimating damage from the storm at about $2 billion.
The state is proposing to allocate $152 million for housing programs that help homeowners restore their storm-damaged homes, supplement rental housing costs for low-income rental families impacted by Hurricane Ida; provide zero-interest forgivable loans to owners of rental properties that require rehabilitation; subsidize the development of resilient and affordable housing in lower flood risk areas; and buy out residential properties located in flood prone areas.
An additional $1 million is earmarked to provide supportive services such as housing counseling and legal aid to renters and homeowners impacted by Hurricane Ida.
The state has also targeted $58 million for infrastructure programs to help communities become more resilient to current and future natural hazards, protect publicly funded recovery investments in impacted communities, and fund the non-federal cost share for state and municipal facilities eligible under FEMA’s Public Assistance program.
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The state also wants to spend $6 million to develop a Statewide Housing Mitigation Strategy Tool to assess the housing stock in disaster-impacted and at-risk areas. That would build on the efforts of Resilient NJ, a comprehensive climate resilience planning, guidance, and technical assistance program created after Superstorm Sandy to support local and regional climate resilience planning.
According to federal guidelines, at least 80% of the funds must be spent in counties most impacted by Ida, including Somerset, Middlesex, Union, Bergen, Essex and Passaic.
The remaining 20% may be used in other Ida-impacted counties, including Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Gloucester and Warren.
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At least 70% of the total must go toward projects that directly benefit low- and moderate-income residents or investments in infrastructure.
Residents can also submit their comments through the DCA website, by email to DisasterRecoveryandMitigation@dca.nj.gov or by mail to the attention of Constituent Services, Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation, NJ Department of Community Affairs, 101 South Broad Street, P.O. Box 823, Trenton, NJ 08625-0823. All comments must be received on or before 5 p.m. Sept. 16.
The state will submit the action plan for approval to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development no later than Sept. 28.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: How should NJ spend $228.3 million in Ida recovery money?
