Manatee County staff outline $252 million HUD resiliency award and next steps; HUD pause noted

Manatee County officials told the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday that the county has been allocated $252,000,711 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG‑DR) funds to support rebuilding and resilience from recent storms.

Michelle Davis, the county’s grants administrator, said the funds are targeted to activities HUD does not typically reimburse through FEMA — for example, projects to strengthen communities against future storms in low‑ and moderate‑income areas. “This was allocated to be able to rebuild the disaster‑impacted areas,” she said, describing the award as focused on resilience and repairs FEMA may not cover. She outlined eligible project types: land acquisition for flood control or stormwater mitigation, widening constrained evacuation roads, elevating infrastructure and buyouts of flood‑prone properties.

Tracy Adams, deputy director of Community and Veterans Services, displayed HUD’s mapping of low‑ and moderate‑income census blocks that HUD used to determine eligibility and said county staff will use HUD guidance and local assessments when prioritizing projects. She said HUD allows the county to cover administrative costs up to 5% of the award to manage the program.

Timeline and public process

Staff said Manatee has 90 days to prepare an “action plan” listing candidate projects; after the county posts the plan it will be open for 30 days of public comment before being finalized and submitted to HUD for review. Staff said HUD told counties to expect to ask for extensions given the complexity and local coordination required; “they actually expect most counties to ask for an extension when they are looking to put the action plan together,” Adams said.

Staff also warned the board that late in the day the prior evening federal officials issued a pause on some grant approvals pending a review by the new administration. County officials said they were assessing whether the recent pause affects the CDBG‑DR award, but that the pause is likely temporary and that HUD told counties the pause process would be resolved quickly.

How staff will collect project ideas

Michelle Davis said staff will launch a public submission form and a partner intake form to collect candidate projects from municipalities, nonprofit partners and residents. She said the county will meet individually with commissioners to show projects that meet HUD eligibility and to prioritize a final list to include in the action plan. Staff said they will create a public website for the grant process and that a project intake questionnaire will be published immediately after the meeting.

What staff emphasized

- Buyouts: staff said buyouts of repeatedly flooded homes are eligible; if a property is acquired as a buyout, HUD rules require the land be kept as green space or used for flood mitigation. If the county acquires land for a mitigation project (not a buyout), it can be redeveloped.

- FEMA coordination: for some projects already funded or partially funded by FEMA, HUD allows counties to use the CDBG‑DR award to replace FEMA cost shares in cases where the HUD eligibility standards are met, potentially reducing the county’s out‑of‑pocket share for certain recovery projects.

Why this matters

The award is one of the largest recovery funds the county has received and is directed to projects intended to strengthen vulnerable neighborhoods and reduce risk during future storms. Commissioners asked staff to prioritize projects that would reduce evacuation bottlenecks, elevation or widening of heavily used roads and buyouts in repetitive‑flood locations. They also pressed staff for clear public outreach and transparency: several commissioners said they want to see project lists and eligibility criteria available on a public website as soon as possible.

Ending

Staff said they will circulate a county project intake form and partner form and will meet with each commissioner to present projects that meet HUD eligibility. The board did not take funding action at the meeting; staff requested direction and said they will return with an action plan for public comment and formal adoption once the intake and review process is complete.