#floodmitigation

The Commonwealth of Virginia will hold a public hearing on October 15, 2015 to solicit public input on the proposed Virginia Disaster Resilience Proposal to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC). The proposal will target resiliency projects in the cities of Chesapeake, Newport News and Norfolk. The proposal, thRIVe, Resiliency in Virginia, will target a series of infrastructure, watershed and community and economic development activities intended to re-invent the region around a shared understanding of how to live with water, in response to on-going environmental changes. Activities are intended to primarily benefit vulnerable, low- to moderate-income residents, while also addressing unmet needs from prior events.

NDRC is a two-phase process that will competitively award approximately $1 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds to eligible states, counties and cities nationwide. The competition will help communities recover from prior federally-declared disasters in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and improve their ability to withstand and recover more quickly from future disasters, hazards, stresses and shocks. 

A draft proposal will be available at the hearing location and online at the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development website at http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/index.php/virginias-resiliency-plan.html. 

Public comment will be received from 7-8 p.m. at the following locations on October 15, 2015. 

City of Chesapeake, Tidewater Community College, Room 3100 (Chesapeake Bay Multi-Purpose), 1428 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA  23322 

City of Newport News, Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center, Room – L. Mario Poe, 2410 Wickham Ave, Newport News, VA  23607 

Public comment will be received from 6-7 p.m. at the following location on October 15, 2015. 

City of Norfolk, Grandy Village Learning Center, 2971 Kimball Loop, Norfolk, VA 23504 

The public comment period will extend through October 21, 2015. Comments may be submitted to [email protected] or at the following address: Chris Thompson, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, 600 East Main Street, Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23219.