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Council retreat yields recovery priorities: push to move CDBG‑DR money quickly, focus on water resilience and housing stability
Summary
At a two‑day council retreat staff and council set short‑ and medium‑term recovery goals across four priority areas — people, economy, housing and infrastructure — and asked staff to return with a consolidated 'game plan' to move CDBG‑DR funding and capital projects while seeking small early restoration wins and protections against displacement.
Council members spent a large portion of the retreat translating recovery priorities into measurable short‑term steps and a medium‑term strategy to use federal recovery dollars efficiently.
Ben (council member) summarized economy group goals as creating ‘‘a process for CDBG‑DR funds to start getting those out the door in 1 year’’ and ensuring underrepresented local businesses are actively included in recovery contracting. Jay Dundas, capital management director, detailed the scale of infrastructure damage staff is managing — dozens of facilities and parks, six greenways, roughly 200 public‑works damage points and 16 water‑asset damages — and said staff is packaging less complex projects for quicker delivery while routing complex repairs through FEMA public assistance and competitive grants.
Why it matters: Council flagged three near‑term objectives to demonstrate progress to residents: (1) accelerate CDBG‑DR and recovery project delivery, (2) stage a set of small operational wins (openings of parks, greenways, or transit access) in year 1 to show progress, and (3) preserve housing stability through targeted support for temporary and long‑term housing solutions.
Council and staff priorities captured at the retreat
- Economy: a one‑year objective to operationalize a CDBG‑DR spending framework, increase survival and outreach for small/underrepresented firms, and expand a contractor pool to meet rebuilding demand. ‘‘We want to have a better survival rate than is typical,’’ a council member said. - Infrastructure: water system resilience and staged small victories that restore services quickly while larger, complex projects follow FEMA PA processes; staff flagged planned water rate phase‑ins to protect the water fund and capital program. - People: stabilize residents (financially and mentally), reduce displacement and craft a community engagement plan with measurable year‑one milestones. - Housing: target TSA voucher holders for permanent placements where desired, increase home‑repair funding, pursue LIHTC and housing‑bond projects, and set up a disaster‑housing toolkit for future events.
Next steps: Staff will take retreat outputs, refine them with boards and partner groups, and return to council with a written game plan that clarifies responsibilities, timelines and funding strategies. The administration plans to feed that game plan into the FY26 budget discussions so recovery priorities and operating trade‑offs are aligned.
The retreat closed with a series of personal commitments from council members to improve collaboration and follow‑through as staff converts the retreat record into a formal plan for council review.
