Florida Construction News staff writer
Sarasota County expects to receive a $201,535,000.00 allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) to assist with Hurricane Ian recovery and mitigation efforts and create the Resilient SRQ program.
“I’m so proud of the county, we responded so well to the early needs. One thing we’ve said along is that it’s a long road to recovery, and this money is going to really help with people rebuilding their homes, rebuilding infrastructure and filling the gap of unmet needs,” said Sarasota County Commission Chair Ron Cutsinger.
The county will complete a series of pre-award submissions and develop a public action plan for use of the CDBG-DR funds for the Resilient SRQ program. Once finalized, the plan will require approval from the Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners and HUD prior to the county taking receipt of the funds.
A new survey is available at scgov.net/ResilientSRQ until June 28 and feedback will also be collected at the following public meetings:
- 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., June 21, at Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Public Library, 4143 Woodmere Park Blvd, Venice.
- 6 to 8 p.m., June 22, at Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Public Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd, Sarasota.
- 2 to 4 p.m., June 24, at Shannon Staub Public Library, 4675 Career Lane, North Port.
The county will use information from the survey, public meetings along with data from federal, state, and local sources to develop an action plan over the next several months, detailing projects and programs. Projects will focus on housing, restoration of infrastructure, economic revitalization and mitigation.
An “unmet needs assessment” and action plan will be completed over the next several months to detail projects addressing unmet needs in Sarasota County identified in the assessment. Projects will focus on housing, restoration of infrastructure, economic revitalization and mitigation.
Additional information about Resilient SRQ and the CDBG-DR funds can also be found here.