GROVES, Texas — Over $4 million in FEMA money to fix damaged roads in Groves hinges on homeowner participation in a survey being conducted by city employees.
Groves city manager D.E. Sosa said the FEMA funds would come from the Texas General Land Office to fix the city's streets and infrastructure, if the city can show documentation that it meets certain federal requirements.
The City of Groves needs to show that some areas in the city are more than 51 percent LMI. Since data from the 2010 census is not sufficient, Sosa said, the city is going door-to-door with a survey to collect the needed information.
Sosa said homeowner participation is essential to get approval for the funds.
The city is hoping to target lower-income areas with the FEMA funding.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that 70 percent of Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery funds for Hurricane Harvey be used to benefit low-to-moderate income (LMI) populations. A household is considered LMI if they make less than 80 percent of the area median income, according to HUD.
"We're trying to allocate the FEMA / GLO funds for LMI areas," Sosa said. "We're not gonna go to a neighborhood that's brand new, we're looking at older neighborhoods, fixed income, lots of retirees, trying to target the areas that have best chance of meeting the LMI requirement."
Sosa said a family of four living in Groves making a moderate amount of income, such not more than $50,000 a year, usually meets the requirement.
The City of Groves is using census track maps to conduct the survey from the 2010 census, since they will not likely have new ones from the 2020 census until 2022, Sosa said.
Hurricane Harvey caused significant damage to many streets, Sosa said.
"Some parts of the City of Groves were underwater for two and half days, which washes out the base," he said.
The GLO awarded two grants to Groves--$4 million for infrastructure and streets and $2 million for flood prevention.
"We want to be able to try and convert that into money that we can use to mitigate future flooding by using detention ponds and holding that water so it won't overwhelm our drainage system," Sosa said.
Sosa said the city is looking at the south end of Groves for these projects.
The city's overall budget to repair roads throughout the city also doubled this year.
Back in 2017, Sosa said that the city hoped the street program budget would double or triple in the next few years, when the city’s debt service rolled off.
MORE | Here's the City of Groves street repair plan for 2015-2018
MORE | Here's the City of Groves street repair plan for 2019
"Our $300,000 did double to $600,000 this year," Sosa said. This goes toward curb work, rebuilding and resurfacing streets.
Homeowners should be on the lookout for a city employee in a City of Groves shirt knocking on their door. The survey only takes about 30 seconds to complete, Sosa said.
Residents can also complete the survey on the phone.
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