Cmr. George P. Bush announces more than $3.5 million to improve streets and drainage facilities in Victoria County
Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced the Texas General Land Office (GLO) approved $3,515,651 in Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery grants to improve streets and drainage facilities in Victoria County.
"Hurricane Harvey devastated communities across the Texas Coast," said Commissioner Bush. "These recovery funds are critical to improving local infrastructure that will protect lives, homes and businesses from future storms. We continue to work with our partners in communities across the region to leverage these resources efficiently and effectively to benefit Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey."
With these funds, Victoria County will be able to clean, elevate and excavate drainage ditches, install storm sewer pipe and replace culverts along several roads in Placedo, Texas. The county will also clean and excavate ditches and replace driveway culverts in the Dibel Drive neighborhood as well as locations along Nursery Road between Nursery and Highway 77. Along Fordyce Road near Victoria County Park, the county will replace the existing culverts with new larger culverts, install multiple box culverts and a pedestrian handrail.
Street improvements will be made along Minatre Road, Hiller Road, Gin Road, and Leita Road in the neighborhood southeast of Telferner.
Texas GLO Hurricane Harvey Recovery Funds:
Commissioner George P. Bush and the Texas General Land Office was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to lead the historic Hurricane Harvey housing recovery efforts funded by $5.676 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The GLO allocated $413 million of the allocation for infrastructure projects to protect communities affected by the storm. The GLO allocated the funds to regional Council of Governments' (COGs) based on a HUD approved needs assessment. The locally-led COGs then conducted methods of distribution (MODs) for determining infrastructure and buyout and acquisition amounts for cities and counties within each jurisdiction. COG boards are comprised of officials from the impacted communities elected in part to prioritize funds allocated for recovery programs. The MOD process requires public engagement and the GLO reviewed each MOD for compliance with federal rules and requirements before approving each plan.