Columbia advisory committee reviews use of HUD CDBG mitigation grant for generator, fire station and head gates

City staff updated the Columbia Prepares Advisory Committee on projects funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant–Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) award and described budget adjustments and timelines for three projects: a replacement generator at the fleet services facility, a new fire station in the Bluff Road/Olympia area and repairs to canal head gates.

The update matters because the CDBG-MIT funds are intended to reduce long-term flood risk and must be spent by June 20, 2032, according to the staff presentation. "The deadline is June 20th, which is 2032. And so we have 7 years, 7 more years, to to utilize those funds, disperse those funds, and draw down those funds, and complete those projects that we have outlined with those dollars," the city staff member said.

City staff said the city was awarded roughly $18.585 million through the CDBG-MIT allocation and reviewed how that total has been apportioned. The most recent allocation shown to the committee listed $929,000 for…