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County approves final $210M CDBG-DR action plan; Phillippi Creek dredging highlighted
Summary
After broad public outreach and an online public-comments dashboard, Sarasota County unanimously approved a final CDBG-DR action plan for $210 million in 2024 storm recovery funds. Staff added a specific eligibility callout for Phillippi Creek dredging and preserved rules that 70% of funds must benefit low- and moderate-income households.
Sarasota County commissioners unanimously approved a final Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) action plan for $210 million allocated for 2024 storms. The board's action followed an intensive public outreach period, including an "unmet needs" survey with more than 1,400 responses, two required public hearings and a public comment dashboard that logged roughly 560 draft comments.
Division manager Steve Hyatt summarized the HUD rules that govern the funds: a large share must benefit households at or below 80% of area median income and projects must tie back to the declared storms unless funded through mitigation set-asides. Hyatt told the board the county had incorporated the public feedback and that staff added an explicit callout to include Phillippi Creek dredging as an eligible, prioritized project. "With this allocation... about $210,000,000 has to be applied with HUD rules and all funds must address an unmet need," Hyatt told commissioners during the briefing.
Public comments submitted during the draft period clustered most heavily around dredging and stormwater maintenance, followed by housing-recovery and mitigation projects. Staff has posted a public dashboard that maps comment volume and topic by geography; the darker clusters correspond to neighborhoods that experienced severe flooding in 2024. Commissioners stressed urgency: staff said the revised HUD timetable provides an extended submission window (new action-plan deadline June 23, 2025) but asked for rapid implementation of priority projects before hurricane season.
What happens next: County staff will submit the final action plan to HUD for review; HUD typically has 45 days to respond and may request amendments. Staff will then begin implementing eligible programs and begin processing applications for homeowner rehabilitation, housing recovery, infrastructure, and prioritized dredging projects.
