Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward announced that the city will receive the last of four Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to acquire and demolish the four residences north of the retention pond on East Fisher Street.
The grant is completes the Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program tied to the April 2014 flooding.
In the press release, the city said that the retention pond between Fisher and Cross streets overflows during 25-year rain events. Four properties on Fisher Street suffered flood damage in 2004, 2012, and 2014. A multi-family low-income housing complex is located in the flood plain near the pond.
Fisher Street will be closed at this location and the pond will be expanded across the road and into the area vacated by the four properties. The entire system will be designed to meet the drainage needs of a 25-year rain event.
The city first applied for the grant in March 2015. Other projects on the city’s list were Lalone property acquisition and demolition and property acquisition at 12th Avenue and Cross Street. The latest grant raises the total amount of HMGP funding the city received to $2.612 million.
FEMA did qualify the full amount of the Corinne Jones stormwater pond construction cost as an in-kind resource to cover the city’s 25 percent match requirement for HMGP projects. The city will also be able to use the grant money to offset payments of over $60,000 made to ARCADIS, the consulting firm the city contracted with to prepare the grant applications, according to the announcement.
“This latest grant award is fantastic news for city residents, particularly those around Fisher Street and 12th Avenue who were impacted by the 2014 flood and who have waited patiently for news that something would be done to minimize the risk of future flooding,†said Mayor Ashton Hayward, in the release. “Citizens consistently rank stormwater infrastructure as a top priority and we have responded with a full-court press to secure funding for projects far above what we collect in stormwater utility fees.”
This summer FEMA award Escambia County two FEMA HMGP grants, totaling more than $6.5 million, for long-term hazard mitigation measures to reduce flooding in Lake Charlene and Bristol Park-Bristol Creek-Ashbury Hills areas.