Title
Chief Administrative Office, Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience (OWPR), recommending the Board of Supervisors adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 051-2023 officially designating the Chief Administrative Officer as the “Applicant’s Agent for Non-State Agencies” for the purposes of receiving funds through the Federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
FUNDING: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grant Funds.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On March 22, 2022, the Board took action to designate $3,375,000 of excess contingency funds as matching funds for a federal Hazard Mitigation Grant to conduct defensible space, home hardening, and hazardous fuels reduction in the County.
In March 2022, following the Board's approval of the matching funds, the OWPR applied through the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant to conduct defensible space, home hardening, and hazardous fuels reduction in the County. A section of the Weber Creek drainage south of Highway 50 was identified as the project area, based on risk assessment criteria determined by the Advisory Committee to the OWPR. The total project cost was $13.3 million, with a County match of 25%, or $3.3 million.
In September 2022, CalOES invited the County to participate in the California Wildfire Mitigation Program Pilot Project in lieu of the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant. The California Wildfire Mitigation Program is a pilot program put together by CalOES and CAL FIRE, and is funded in part by FEMA to support California homeowners with protecting their property from wildfire damage through defensible space and home retrofitting. This new grant would expand the County’s funding for the Weber Creek project to approximately $25 million dollars and reduce the County’s match to between 5% and 7%, or up to $1.5 million. The application has been submitted and was approved by the California Wildfire Mitigati...
Click here for full text