St. Augustine holds FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance workshop; homeowners urged to submit packets by Oct. 1

City of St. Augustine staff and consultant Quality Engineering and Surveying (QES) held a public workshop to explain the federal Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant process, eligibility and timeline for the fiscal 2025 cycle. QES representative Zach outlined application requirements, funding priorities and homeowner documentation the city must collect if residents want to be considered.

The workshop is intended to prepare homeowners for the competitive, nationwide FMA grant. "The main requirement of this grant is that you do have to have a national flood insurance program or NFIP flood insurance policy," Zach said, noting a policy typically takes about 30 days to take effect and must be in place before the application period opens. Participants were told the Notice of Funding Opportunity for fiscal 2025 had not yet been posted at the time of the presentation.

The grant prioritizes properties with repetitive loss histories. Zach described two mitigation activities eligible under the FMA program: elevation (raising a home to at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation, BFE) and reconstruction (demolishing and rebuilding to the higher elevation standard). He said funds available for demolition and reconstruction work are limited to $220,000 per property. "Whenever you build a…