Public hearing, opening of a public comment period, on the proposed Action Plan. Written comments will be accepted until December 22, 2006. Comments can be hand-delivered or mailed to the Department at the address: Florida Small Cities CDBG Program,...

 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Division of Housing and Community Development

The Department of Community Affairs (DCA) announces a public hearing, and the opening of a public comment period, on the proposed Action Plan related to Community Development Block Grant disaster relief funding provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (Docket No. FR-5089-N-01, Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 209; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006). The State of Florida is required to submit an Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by December 30, 2006, in order to receive this supplemental funding. The Action Plan must contain specific elements outlined in federal regulations, including the method by which the funding will be allocated.

Congress allocated the supplemental funding for the purpose of assisting in the recovery from the federally declared disasters noted in the above-mentioned issue of the Federal Register. The Action Plan proposes to use the funds for housing-related mitigation activities. Urban Entitlements and Non-Entitlements eligible to participate in the Florida Small Cities CDBG Program, as well as federally recognized Indian Tribes, within the counties listed in the federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Wilma, are eligible to apply for assistance. These counties include: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, and St. Lucie. Applicants must document and certify that there is no other funding available to address the need.

To facilitate the public comment process, the Action Plan is being emailed to eligible local governments and Indian Tribes and posted to the Department’s website at: http://www. floridacommunitydevelopment.org/disasterrecovery.cfm

A telephone conference call is being offered as an alternative to a public hearing (meeting). The conference call has been scheduled for:

DATE AND TIME: December 15, 2006, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon

PLACE: Individuals interested in commenting on the Action Plan may call [phone] and participate in the discussion. The confirmation number is 150Z 1204.

GENERAL SUBJECT MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Public hearing, opening of a public comment period, on the proposed Action Plan.

Written comments will be accepted until December 22, 2006. Comments can be hand-delivered or mailed to the Department at the address: Florida Small Cities CDBG Program, Department of Community Affairs, 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100. Telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Any person requiring a special accommodation at the workshop because of a disability or physical impairment should contact Pat Harvey at the Department of Community Affairs, [phone], at least seven days before the workshop to request the accommodation. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the Department of Community Affairs using the Florida Dual Party Relay System, which can be reached at 1(800)955-8771 (TDD).