Hundreds of millions of dollars in Harvey relief money is starting to flow from Washington, and already, Vidor officials are not happy with the city’s share of one round.
The Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission held a public hearing Tuesday evening in Orange about spending the area’s money for the Community Development Block Grant recovery under the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The area is getting $156.7 million, with $105 million designated to entities for infrastructure like roads, water lines, and sewer lines. $51.7 million is for local buyout and acquisitions of properties.
Vidor City Manager Mike Kunst and Vidor Mayor Robert Viator complained about their city’s allocation for infrastructure and the formula used to divide the federal money.
Vidor, with a population of 10,958, is budgeted to get $3.61 million less for infrastructure than West Orange, which has a population of 3,456.
The regional planning commission used Harvey reports and data from FEMA, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, plus local data, to determine how many people in a community were affected by Harvey. Commission Executive Director Shaun Davis being affected did not mean a house had to have water inside.
Mayor Viator talked about seeing many areas of Vidor under water and helping rescue people. Davis said the commission needs statistical data, not anecdotal.
The planning commission’s data shows the percentage of the population affected by Harvey:
Rural Orange County: 86.5 percent (33,832 people out of 39,145)
Bridge City: 16 percent (1,314 people out of 8,165)
Orange: 62.7 percent (12,171 people out of 19,418)
Pinehurst: 54.5 percent (1,138 people out of 2,087)
Vidor: 30 percent (3,293 people out of 10,958)
West Orange: 58 percent (2,006 people out of 3,456)
Davis said the small Orange County cities of Rose City (523) and Pine Forest (508) were 100 percent affected.
The public hearing was on these allocations:
Rural Orange County: Total $15.25 million. $11.14 million for infrastructure. $4.1 million for buyouts and acquisitions.
Bridge City: Total $3.65 million. $2.08 million for infrastructure. $1.57 million for buyouts and acquisitions.
Orange: Total $11.33 million. $8.08 million for infrastructure. $3.25 million for buyouts and acquistions.
Pinehurst: Total $9.93 million. $7 million for infrastructure. $2.9 million for buyouts and acquitions.
Vidor: Total $5.95 million. $3.87 million for infrastructure. $2.08 million for buyouts and acquisitions.
West Orange: Total $10.56 million. $7.48 million for infrastructure. $3.08 million for buyouts and acquisitions.
The monies discussed Tuesday from the Community Development Block Grant program are to be spent in areas with residents of moderate to low income. The Texas General Land Office is overseeing the grants.
The block grants will include money for local buyouts and acquisitions of properties that have had repeated flooding.
Davis said the block grants are different from acquisition and buyout grants the Orange City Council learned about last week. Those grants are coming through FEMA and the Texas Division of Emergency Management. He said the different relief agencies sometimes have different criteria and regulations.
Congress approved $7.85 billion for Harvey relief and recovery. The money goes to different federal agencies for various uses. The federal agencies then partner with a state agency. The state agencies allocate shares to the regional councils of government to be used for local entities. The Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission has been handling storm recovery grants for the area since 2005 and Hurricane Rita, Davis said.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
Pictured: Vidor Mayor Robert Viator talks with Shanna Burke of the regional planning commission about Harvey relief money. In the background are Orange County Judge Dean Crooks and Shaun Davis, executive director of the planning commission.
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