Sarasota County prepares plan to distribute $201.5 million in Ian recovery federal grants

Residents, municipalities and nonprofits seeking to receive Hurricane Ian relief funding from the $201.5 million ResillientSRQ block grant program may be able to apply in early to mid-2024.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Nov. 21 approved the county's plan for distributing the funds.

The money is intended to aid in long-term recovery efforts from the storm, which made landfall Sept. 28. 2022.

Seventy percent of the funding must be used to benefit low to moderate income residents, defined as households making up to 80% of the area median income.

It also must meet a HUD national objective such as benefit low to moderate income people; have an urgent need; prevent or eliminate slum or blight.

That’s part of the reason that the HUD grant includes $15 million in economic recovery funding that will be directed toward improving career and trades training.

Given the scope of the undertaking, another $5 million was set aside for planning and $10 million to administer the funding and ensure that it’s spent properly.

Updates on the funding process for the housing programs, which contains almost $101.5 million in funding, and the public facilities programs, which contains $70 million in funding, will be available at scgov.net/ResilientSRQ as they become available.

That will be the first source for open application periods, eligibility criteria, active solicitations, and other requirements.

Hurricane Ian's toll

Hurricane Ian is considered the third most costly hurricane in the U.S., behind Katrina in 2005 and Harvey in 2017, and costliest ever in Florida after causing nearly $113 billion in damage and 149 deaths.

Ten of those deaths occurred in Sarasota County, including seven in the city of North Port – the Sarasota County municipality hit hardest by the storm, primarily because of the impact of flooding as rainwater drained down the Myakka River and through the Myakkahatchee Creek watershed.

The city was built on land created by the construction of 80 miles of canals and waterways built by General Development Corp in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

Surging floodwaters buckled bridges over canals – especially along Price Boulevard, which is one of two major east-west thoroughfares in the sprawling city.

City officials are already replacing many of North Port's aging water control structures and have previously identified roughly $32 million in bridge and water control structure projects that could qualify for the ResilientSRQ grants.

The alternative for that would be to continue replacing the structures at a pace of one per year, or ask taxpayers to approve borrowing for the work.

A pool of $70 million for infrastructure

Sarasota County’s plan set aside $70 million for public facilities and infrastructure programs, including resiliency upgrades to guard against future storm damage. Of that, $25 million was set aside for the elevation and widening of South River Road between Winchester Boulevard and Tamiami Trail, since it’s a major hurricane evacuation route for south Sarasota County, including Englewood and Charlotte County.

That leaves $45 million for projects proposed by North Port, Sarasota County, other municipalities and area nonprofits.

Both the North Port headquarters of the Salvation Army of Sarasota County and the Gene Matthews campus for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

$101.46 million for housing

A HUD survey determined the largest unmet need in Sarasota County involved housing and initially HUD suggested that 72% of the $201.5 million grant be spent to address that shortcoming.

The current plan calls for the money to be spent on four separate programs: housing rehabilitation/reconstruction; new affordable multifamily housing; homeowner reimbursement for repair costs already incurred; and a voluntary home buyout program.

At the moment, the funding split is $40 million each for homeowners rehabilitation/reconstruction, $40 million for new multifamily housing, $15 million for homeowner reimbursement and $6.5 million for voluntary housing buyouts.

Sarasota County is currently choosing a consultant for the reconstruction and rehabilitation program, with two proposal evaluation meetings set for Dec. 28 and Jan. 16.

The county set caps of $310,000 for home reconstruction; $200,000 for home rehabilitation; and $50,000 for homeowner reimbursement of existing out-of-pocket expenses.

Home sites purchased through the buyout program would become open public green space.

Sarasota County plans to fund the development of at least two multifamily complexes – which may be part of a mixed-use development – that will create at least 200 rental homes with the $40 million.

All the funding is meant to be spent to benefit residents in the low-to-medium income demographic, though there is no commitment as to the mix of one- two- or three-bedroom units in those complexes.

How long will it take to recover from Hurricane Ian?

A formula developed by National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, attributes 100 days of recovery for each day of search and rescue following a storm.

Search and rescue teams were active for nine days after Hurricane Ian, which means it could take 900 days for Sarasota County to recover from Hurricane Ian.

That clock started ticking on Sept. 28, 2022.

On that timetable, recovery may happen as soon as March 2025.

A Long Term Recovery Group – run under the auspices of the United Way of South Sarasota County that includes more than 25 nonprofits and agencies – has been working with out-of-area nonprofits to help with the recovery effort.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County app process for federal Ian grants may start in months