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County pursuing 113 funding prospects; $20.4 million secured and FEMA PA projects advancing
Summary
Buncombe County reported identifying 113 funding prospects for Helene recovery, submitting 26 applications and securing $20.4 million in awards to date; county staff said 68 FEMA Public Assistance projects are documented, with three obligated so far totaling $1.4 million.
County grant and recovery staff told commissioners on July 15 they have a multi-pronged funding strategy that has yielded $20.4 million in awards so far and that they continue to work in parallel with FEMA’s public-assistance program.
Samantha Bauer, grant administrator, said the county has identified 113 prospective funding opportunities and submitted 26 applications across federal, state and philanthropic sources. "So far, we have secured 7 awards, and that includes 5 grants and 2 loans, which totals $20,400,000," she said, noting the figure does not include FEMA PA amounts.
Bauer said a North Carolina cash-flow loan has provided nearly $14 million so far and that more funds under the recently announced state package could be available to the county. She listed several awards and commitments the county has already received or reallocated, including $788,000 in CDBG declared-disaster recovery funds from the City of Asheville, $2.8 million in CDBG recovery housing in collaboration with ABCCM and $2.2 million from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for disaster-recovery programs.
On FEMA Public Assistance (PA), Bauer said the county has documented 68 eligible PA projects and that three have been obligated to date; the state has approved $1.4 million of those obligated projects and that amount includes a landslide project and expedited debris-removal retention money. Bauer stressed coordination with the PA process as the county seeks other state and federal sources.
Bauer also listed potential funding vehicles the county is pursuing, including additional CDBG allocations managed with the city, congressional community-project funding, Dogwood Health Trust leverage funds, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program for acquisitions and elevations.
Commissioners commended the grant team’s activity and emphasized the scale of the application work; one commissioner noted the county had submitted many applications and that residents might not appreciate the volume of behind-the-scenes effort.
