New amendments to New York Rising Housing Program proposed

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A public hearing was held at Freeport’s Village Hall on Tuesday, July 21, to hear residents’ reactions to proposed amendments to the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program, including the New York Rising Housing Program. Tom Volanni, a representative from the New York State Governor’s office of Storm Recovery, explained that the hearing was required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which announced last October a supplemental allocation of $420,922,000 in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to support recovery efforts from Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee and Superstorm Sandy. Since March of 2013, $4.4 billion has been released to mitigate the effects of the three storms, said Volanni. “In order to release those [addtional] funds we must have a written plan and one public hearing,” Volanni explained. “But we are having two public hearings. This hearing is strictly to listen to your comments.”

The Freeport hearing was the first hearing. A second hearing will be held in Schoharie, New York, on Monday, July 27.

The proposed changes, called Amendment Plan 10, adds an optional relocation plan to the New York Rising Housing Program for applicants with manufactured homes. The plan also expands the New York Rising buyout and acquisition program to include applicants in the floodway who do not have substantial-damage letters. The amendment also clarifies terms for the acquisition of properties and modifies the formula for calculating the resettlement incentive. Finally, the plan calls for funding construction of a new outfall pipe for the Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Suffolk County.

Eddie Martin of Freeport, a homeowner affected by Superstorm Sandy, said that while he had no special comments on the amended plan he wanted to talk about his experience with New York Rising. Martin, who is in the process of elevating his home, said, “This has been an emotionally devastating experience. I’ve had three different caseworkers and no one seems to know what they are doing. I get random calls not related to the process I’m in. There is a real disconnect. Now there is another process, more tasks to take. Is there anybody behind the curtain?”

“We are not commenting tonight,” replied Jamelia Nathan, a representative from New York Rising, who added that she would have a representative take Martin’s case number to assist him.

“I’m not surprised,” replied Martin.

Jimmy Rucco, representing Operation SPLASH, said that the organization hoped the government would consider “leaving the broken pipe at Bergen Point in place so that we can do a pilot program in the Great South Bay.” Rucco explained that the waterways along the south shore of Long Island, including the Great South Bay and the Western Bays, were suffering from too much nitrogen. “We’d like to have a pilot program that would introduce dissolved oxygen – called micro bubbles – into the water,” he said. “Bergen Point could be an excellent opportunity to see if this could work in other places as well.”