Theresa Opeka
Carolina Journal
Thursday night is the deadline to comment on North Carolina’s proposed Action Plan for the $1.4 billion Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant for western North Carolina.
An action plan outlines the main plans, such as providing grants for reconstruction, funding the construction of units for purchase by low—and moderate-income households, and establishing a small rental and multifamily construction program.
“I encourage everyone, especially those directly impacted by Hurricane Helene, to read our proposal for these critical federal funds and provide suggestions for the best way forward,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley in a press release. “Our team at the Commerce Department is moving as quickly as possible to complete the necessary steps to begin receiving the federal relief money we’ve been promised.”
Out of the $1.4 billion allocated to the state for Helene relief from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $807 million is allocated to owner-occupied unit reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Submitting a final Action Plan to HUD is required to receive federal funds from a CDBG-DR award, first announced in January. Once submitted, HUD can take up to 45 days to approve the plan and finalize the grant.
The Division of Community Revitalization, created by one of Democrat Gov. Josh Stein’s first executive orders, will administer the HUD CDBG-DR grant funding. The Division’s Deputy Secretary, Stephanie McGarrah, led the development of the Action Plan and the program to get feedback during in-person public meetings in six western North Carolina locations.
CDBG-DR grants, which focus on long-term rebuilding, are used after other recovery sources, such as private insurance, have been tapped. The grants address unmet needs in three core areas of recovery: housing, infrastructure, and economic revitalization. The Helene Action Plan proposes that most funds go to housing recovery for low—and moderate-income residents, with the rest earmarked for infrastructure rebuilding and economic support, particularly for small businesses and commercial districts.
During a Governmental Operations Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery hearing held earlier this month, legislators criticized the plan to build up new apartment units instead of replacing homes that were destroyed.
“This is new construction; these are things that were not there before the storm,” said Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood. “You need to go back and look at how you’re going to be people in the houses that were affected by this, not build apartment buildings and workforce housing on a grant that’s supposed to help people that their lives were devastated.”
Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Iredell, told McGarrah and the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) Advisor Jonathan Krebs that they ‘inherited a hornet’s nest.’
“You didn’t do it,” he admitted. “You’ve got to fix it. Tell us how we can go about helping you fix it.”
McGarrah listed several concerns, including a lack of good data showing where all the houses are that have been damaged or destroyed. She said the first thing anybody should do in any situation is define the problem, but admitted they are struggling to define the problem because of the data, or lack thereof, from agencies like FEMA and SBA.
Jones asked if there were any concrete deadlines that they could use to hold leaders accountable in the rebuilding process. McGarrah said that while they have six years from the grant agreement date, she would like to see it happen faster, though there is not yet a timeline.
“It’ll be six years from the day of the grant agreement. I’m happy to agree to an earlier date. I think that’s too long,” said McGarrah. “But I also know from managing grants that you run into problems.”
The $1.4 billion grant is pending federal approval of the state’s Action Plan. Although damage assessments are ongoing, NC Commerce officials said the current allotment will fall short of the unmet housing needs estimate.
In addition, a separate HUD CDBG-DR grant of $225 million was earmarked directly to the City of Asheville to administer.
On March 4,, the city posted on its website a plan to allocate the $225 million grant issued by the Biden Administration in January, according to Fox News. The plan included a section explicitly stating that minority and female-owned businesses would be prioritized. Following an investigation by HUD, a new plan was posted to the website, which did not include a DEI section.
US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner ended Asheville’s plan to distribute hurricane relief funding based on diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) qualifications rather than by need.
“Once again, let me be clear, DEI is dead at HUD,” Turner told Fox News. “We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”
Turner referenced an executive order signed by Trump on the day of his swearing-in ending DEI programs and preferencing.
Asheville later updated its plan to be compliant with HUD.
The state’s Action Plan draft can be found online at commerce.nc.gov/recovery. Those who would like to comment have until 11:59 pm, March 20, to do so.
Aside from mailing comments, which may not reach the department in time, comments can be made by:
Going online to commerce.nc.gov/recovery-comments
Faxing comments to: (919) 715-0096
Emailing comments to: helene.recovery@commerce.nc.gov
Follow Carolina Journal for continuing coverage of Helene recovery initiatives.
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