Hud approves Asheville’s Hurricane Helene Recovery Plan
Two weeks later, President Donald Trump was inaugurated for the second time and finally chose Scott Turner as the new HUD secretary. In March Turner said that the draft action plan submitted by the city was contrary to the efforts of the Trump government to prohibit diversity, shares and inclusion (dei) programs to receive federal financing.
Asheville then brought revisions of the plan and re -submitted it to HUD. In anticipation of approval of the revised plan, the department signed the North Carolina action plan, which was looking for $ 1.4 billion in recovery financing for the state.
The city announced On Thursday that the revised plan was approved. It called the move “an important milestone in the process to gain access to the financing, which was assigned by HUD on January 16, after a congress -to -have of December 2024.”
According to the announcement, the plan assigns $ 125 million to infrastructure, $ 52 million for economic revitalization, $ 31 million for housing, $ 11.2 million for administration, $ 3.7 million for planning and $ 2 million for public services.
However, the funds are not yet ready to be released, because HUD still has to approve the ‘financial, purchasing and subsidy management practices to certify that the city is willing to manage the subsidy funds effectively, “the city said in its announcement.
Asheville “has already submitted all the documentation that is needed for HUD and wait for certification. Once certified, HUD will distribute a subsidy agreement that will sign both the city and HUD,” explained the announcement.
“We quickly moved because we understand how critical this financing is for our community,” said Asheville mayor Esther Manheimer in a statement. “We are grateful to Hud for their quick decision, and our entire council is satisfied with how well the plan includes the feedback from the community.”
Conversations between city leaders and HUD are underway because, according to Nikki Reid, the responsibilities of the city, the community of the city and the director of the city
“Every day we talk about how these funds can be used effectively and efficiently in our community, including the development of program area guidelines and manuals,” said Reid.
“Planning projects, such as the French Broad Riverfront Park Recovery Project, are identified and programs are rolled out when they are made. We expect the first programs to start this fall.”
