After hearing feedback from regional leaders, stakeholders, and residents, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) has developed a preliminary Method of Distribution (MOD) for about $488 million in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds to provide financial assistance to counties and local jurisdictions for risk mitigation projects related to flooding, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
Residents and stakeholders in the 13-county Houston-Galveston region are invited to learn more about the preliminary MOD and comment on it at an informational meeting and public hearing scheduled in July. Information about these meetings, how to register or RSVP for them, and a full copy of the preliminary MOD are all available at http://www.h-gac.com/go/cdbg. The 13-county region includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, and Wharton counties, and 100 member cities.
The informational meeting will provide an overview of the preliminary MOD itself as well as the data and criteria considered for its development. This meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 14 online via Zoom. Attendees of the informational meeting will be able to ask questions about the preliminary MOD, but public comments will not be recorded. They will, however, be recorded at the next scheduled meeting, which will be a public hearing. H-GAC will also be accepting submitted written and verbal public comments through almost the entire month of July.
The public hearing for the preliminary MOD will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 21 at the H-GAC office, located at 3555 Timmons Lane, in the second-floor conference rooms. The public meeting will also include an online component (via Zoom) for those unable to attend in person. Since this meeting will be a public hearing, attendees can make public comments, but speakers will not be able to answer questions. Also, those wishing to attend the public hearing in person are encouraged (but not required) to RSVP in advance. The links to register to attend the meeting in person and online are both available at http://www.h-gac.com/go/cdbg.
In addition to the information session on July 14 and the public hearing on July 21, residents and stakeholders can submit their public comments and questions about the preliminary MOD by email, phone, mail, or by completing an online form between now and 5 p.m., Thursday, July 28. To submit a comment, individuals may:
• Email public comments/questions to: CDBGmitigation@h-gac.com
• Submit public comments/questions by phone by calling 1-877-442-2777
• Mail public comments to the Houston-Galveston Area Council ATTN: Cheryl Mergo, P.O. Box 22777, Houston, TX, 77227-2777
• Hand deliver written public comments to Houston-Galveston Area Council ATTN: Cheryl Mergo, 3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77027
• Complete our online form at: http://www.h-gac.com/community-development-block-grant-mitigation-funds/comment
For more information about the development of the MOD, please visit the H-GAC Community Development Block Grant Mitigation Funds page at http://www.h-gac.com/go/cdbg. In addition to the preliminary MOD and public meetings information, this page provides more details about specific guidelines for councils of government issued by the Texas General Land Office, a list of the kinds of projects that would be eligible for the mitigation program funds, and recordings of the preliminary MOD development public meetings, which took place back in February.
With the county of liberty not having a lot of money why are they not asking txdot for help all over Texas txdot crews do traffic control for police/fire all the time txdot has the man power and equipment the countys dont