Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced the Texas General Land Office (GLO) approved $1,848,750 in Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery grants for the City of Huntsville to make flood, drainage, and street improvements.
"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 the city of Huntsville will excavate, clear and grub existing drainage channels off West Greenbriar Drive and River Oaks Drive. These channels will receive erosion control measures, reinforced concrete box culverts, headwalls, wingwalls and concrete aprons, and sodding at channel banks and bench areas.
Additionally, the city will remove existing pavement and storm structures and install new roadways and storm sewer inlets at the following locations:
- West Greenbriar Drive - from Freemont Drive to approximately 400 linear feet east along West Greenbriar Drive
- River Oaks Drive at Greenbriar Drive - approximately 200 linear feet southeast along River Oaks Drive
- River Oaks Drive at East Lake Drive - approximately 200 linear feet northwest along River Oaks Drive
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.
To review the approved MODs, please visit https://recovery.texas.gov/action-plans/hurricane-harvey/index.html.