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Board approves notice of intent to seek FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant for Corbett Water District tank project
Summary
The board approved a notice of intent to apply to FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for a Corbett Water District project to replace and bury a failing tank; county staff will apply on the district’s behalf because special districts currently lack their own FEMA‑approved mitigation plans.
The Multnomah County Board approved a notice of intent to submit a competitive FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) application on behalf of the Corbett Water District for a project to replace an aging water storage tank and improve system resilience.
Emergency Management manager David Lentzner told commissioners the county is seeking roughly $2.95 million in FEMA funds to support tank replacement work prompted by damage and service interruptions from the January 2024 winter storm. Lentzner said the January storm left some Corbett residents without water for as long as two weeks and that the proposed project would increase storage, improve seismic reliability, and add redundancy so the district could service customers while one tank is offline.
Anna Linden, manager of Corbett Water District, described a high‑risk site in east Multnomah County along steep terrain and said the project would replace the existing above‑ground tank with buried, seismically sound tanks at the same hydraulic elevation. Linden said the district serves about 3,000 customers and that the existing tank is upstream of roughly 88% of those customers.
Lentzner explained why the county is the applicant: FEMA’s HMGP requires an applicant to have an effective natural hazard mitigation plan; Corbett Water District does not currently have an approved plan that allows it to apply directly, so the county is submitting the application on the district’s behalf. Lentzner said the state office of emergency management has already completed a pre‑application review and selected the Corbett concept in a competitive statewide process.
The application would include the standard HMGP cost share. Lentzner said all local match costs and project implementation work would be the responsibility of Corbett Water District and that the county’s role would be limited to application submission and, if the grant is awarded, project‑management support for reporting that would be reimbursed within the grant. Commissioners voted to approve the notice of intent. Recorded votes included Commissioner Moyer — Yes; Commissioner Singleton — Aye; Commissioner Jones Dixon — Yes; Chair Vega Peterson — Yes. The board approved the notice of intent without additional conditions.
