Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief

The Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery Program provides funding in response to federally declared disasters to rebuild the affected areas and provide crucial seed money to start the recovery process.  These flexible grants help cities, counties, and States recover from Presidentially declared disasters, especially in low-income areas, subject to availability of supplemental appropriations.  These grants are only available when a Presidentially declared disaster occurs and Congress makes funding available for the program. 

 SUMMARY OF CDBG-DR – B-13-US-42-0001 – Disaster Assistance Related to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee

 Dauphin County, through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program, has received notice of a direct allocation of $7,632,000.00 to address impacts related to the federally declared disasters of 2013 (Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee). Authorized under Section 239 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2012, these funds are available for necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster.  Dauphin County officials realize that this offers an important opportunity for communities to begin  to address local needs related to Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Sandy and provides a venue for community leaders to work together to implement responsible, comprehensive and collaborative strategies to address these local impacts. 

 In July 2012 Dauphin County published an Action Plan detailing the planned use of funds to address unmet housing, infrastructure, business, and economic development needs within Dauphin County as a result of severe flooding and storm related impacts. As outlined in the Action Plan, a portion of these funds has been allocated to address priority community needs relating to infrastructure repairs and improvements and support for the provision of public services.  These funds will be used for improvements to public infrastructure to enhance community safety and wellness, encourage the growth of jobs and support adequate housing in Dauphin County.  To this end, Dauphin County will pursue measures to address current critical needs and proactively seek future resiliency through investment in infrastructure to both prevent and mitigate future flood damage and to enhance the preparedness of flood-prone areas

 Many of the municipalities in Dauphin County are experiencing varying degrees of local community and economic impacts related to Tropical Storm Lee. With this important funding, we have been presented an opportunity to obtain much needed financial support to address these needs and are looking forward to collaborating with local governments to leverage these funds to create a significant impact in our communities. Prior to the submission and review of applications for individual infrastructure projects, the Dauphin County Office of Community & Economic Development invites you to attend a meeting of local municipal leaders and municipal authority representatives to review the CDBG Disaster Recovery Program and how it may impact local government entities and their activities. This meeting will provide an opportunity for attendees to ask questions related to the contents of the Action Plan, strategies to address local impacts and discuss individual infrastructure and public service projects. In addition, eligibility requirements including service area income qualifications and project evaluation criteria will be discussed.  

To review the 2013 CDBG-DR Action Plan, please click here

Update – Dauphin County Seeking to Amend B-13-US-42-0001 Action Plan to Reallocate Remaining Balance of Funds to Royalton Sewer Pump Station Project

In order to completely spend the balance of its B-13 CDBG-DR Grant, Dauphin County intends to reallocate an unspent balance in the amount of $240,838 to Project #R2-04-26 (Water Street Pump Station Improvement) in Royalton Borough. This pump station was damaged in Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee requiring long-term improvements to increase resiliency and protect it from future flooding events. Dauphin County is waiting on HUD to release the balance of funds in order to move forward with its Action Plan amendment.