Flagler County is seeking up to about $3.65 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to prepare for wildfires and hurricanes.
"Now that we’ve had the hurricane, there is money set aside for us to partake in," County Administrator Craig Coffey told county commissioners at a May 15 County Commission workshop.
The county doesn't expect to get all of the money it's seeking, which would come from money FEMA sets aside for local governments to use for mitigation after a disaster.
The agency set aside $30,007,575 in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program money for the entire state of Florida after Hurricane Matthew, and Flagler County's share is expected to be $2,891,164. But that total could still change, according to county staff documents.
That money is available in the form of matching grants, with the county picking up 25% of the cost of the projects.
County staff has selected a dozen projects to submit for grant funding, according to county staff reports. They are:
- Wildfire mitigation: $50,000 in total project costs to create defensible space in high-risk areas identified by the Florida Forest Service
- Retrofit Fire Station No. 71: $80,000 to install a generator, brace gable ends, and install impact-resistant windows and doors and roof-to-wall connections
- County jail generator: $234,000 to add a new, larger 750-kilowatt generator at the jail and repurpose the jail's existing generator
- Retrofit Fire Station No. 51: $80,000 to install a generator, brace gable ends, and install impact-resistant windows and doors and roof-to-wall connections
- Lift Station generators: $260,000 to buy stand-alone generators for the county's five highest priority lift stations
- Justice Center generator: $250,000 to replace the courthouse's 300-kilowatt generator with a 600-kilowatt generator. The 300-kiloowatt generator wold be moved to the Hidden Trails Community Center.
- Portable generator: $40,000 for a portable generator to use at lift stations
- Haw Creek Community Center generator: $56,100 for a permanent generator
- Espanola Community Center generator: $56,100 for a permanent generator
- Wildfire Mitigation No. 2: $50,000 to create defensible space in other high-risk areas in the county
- Malacompra Drainage Project Phase 1: Estimated Hazard Mitigation Grant Program portion: $750,000 to construct a drainage system "backbone" in the Malacompra area. The $750,000 in grant money would supplement money the county has already set aside for the project.
- Closure of Dune Openings at MalaCompra, Jungle Hut and 16th Roads: Estimated HMGP Portion: $1,800,000 to close dune breaches that present a flooding hazard.
