Clive presses ahead with flood buyouts and mitigation despite uncertainty over federal grants

Clive — At its April 24 meeting, the Clive City Council heard an extensive update on flood preparedness and mitigation and voted to adopt updates to the citys flood response and recovery plan while staff urged continuing planning work even though some federal grant programs are in flux.

Chief Clay Garcia summarized lessons from the citys March tabletop exercise and described operational improvements that made the response plan more robust, including placement of a communications liaison at the county emergency operations center and use of new damage-assessment tools. "What used to take people weeks on end is taking hours," Chief Garcia said about a new county damage-assessment app the city is deploying to get real-time data into the EOC.

Public-works and planning staff then reviewed the citys hazard-mitigation work and buyout program. Doug (city planning/public-works lead) reported that the city has completed acquisition of 23 residential properties in the University Boulevard buyout area and that the program has materially reduced high-risk exposures. He said the work supports the citys recent upgrade in the FEMA Community Rating System, which produces lower flood-insurance premiums for residents.

But staff warned of a new funding threat: a major federal pre-disaster program (BRIC and related appropriations) has been canceled or restructured at the federal level, putting previously awarded or pending reimbursements in jeopardy. Staff said a scoping study tied to the University Boulevard project is covered by a federal grant (described in the transcript as roughly in the low hundreds of thousands and referenced repeatedly as about $420,000) and that the city already has spent a portion of that money while seeking reimbursement. That leaves three choices, staff told the council: pause the contract and preserve cash; cancel the work and seek other funding later; or continue the planning contract at local risk. "Staffs recommendation at this point is option three — continue on the path," Doug said, arguing the planning work is foundational to future implementation.

Council members pressed staff on the implications of each option, the timing of federal grant cycles and how a pause would affect momentum for buyouts and other multi-year mitigation projects. City staff emphasized they are pursuing multiple funding avenues at the state and regional level to reduce dependence on a single federal program. "Good projects find money," Doug told the council, arguing that continuing to advance a well-documented, shovel-ready project improves chances of future funding even if current reimbursements are uncertain.

The council voted 40—0 to adopt the updated flood response and recovery plan and, following staff advice, directed staff to continue the planning and outreach work while pursuing state and other funding pathways. Staff said continuing the work will use local cash in the near term but is expected to protect households and create broader benefits that strengthen future grant competitiveness.

Whats next: staff said they expect to return with more detailed hydraulics, a preferred mitigation arrangement for the University Boulevard buyout area, and a plan describing funding strategies that rely less exclusively on federal grants.