The Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced four mitigation grant projects will receive $9,180,900 between them as part of the Texas GLO and US Housing and Urban Development — CAPCOG Mitigation Method of Distribution (MIT MOD) program. There are other mitigation projects awaiting approval to receive Hurricane Harvey MIT MOD funds.
“The GLO is proud to go the extra mile to help Texas communities large and small to be more resilient against future disasters,” said Dawn Buckingham, Texas Land Officer Commissioner. “Many of our communities have been repetitively devastated by storms and flooding. Federal grant funding can be hard to obtain and difficult to administer, but the GLO works side by side with local leaders to push through bureaucracy and help communities thrive. Our mission is to strengthen and build infrastructure to protect and improve lives for all Texans.”
The CAPCOG Homeland Security Division developed the regional mitigation program over the course of 11 months to assist the GLO in distributing $1.17 billion in CDBG Mitigation funds from HUD, $52 million of which is allocated to four counties in the CAPCOG region — Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette and Lee. CAPCOG worked with local government officials and held several resident and stakeholder meetings to help determine the funding distribution.
“Part of our methodology for distribution of the funds were based upon impacts from previously declared disasters,” said Martin Ritchey, CAPCOG Homeland Security director. “It makes a huge difference to our rural stakeholders.”
In this round of funding, the GLO distributed $17 million to 12 entities in four COG regions. The projects which received awards in CAPCOG region included:
- Bastrop County — Smithville Drainage Improvements — $1.5 million
- City of Elgin — Water Treatment Plant Improvement Project — $1.97 million
- City of Schulenburg — Citywide Drainage and Wastewater Line Improvements — $3.3 million
- City of Smithville — Detention Pond Drainage Improvements — $2.4 million
