HARDWICK – Plans for FEMA funding to develop a shovel-ready flood mitigation project along the Lamoille River corridor through downtown Hardwick are up in the air following cancellation of the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program, said Town Manager David Upson.
A FEMA press release on April 4, canceling the BRIC program, identified it as wasteful and politicized, saying, “Under Secretary Noem, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.” Cancellation of the program will allow the agency to return to its core mission of helping Americans recovering from natural disasters, it says.
The Hardwick BRIC grant application for $235,000 to fund a flood study and project engineering was submitted in February and March this year for a two-year project planned to begin May 1. It was to address issues along the Lamoille River from the former site of the Inn by the River on Mill Street to the Cottage Street Bridge.
Hardwick Zoning Administrator Kristen Leahy estimated the total cost of the project that would have been developed with those grant funds to be roughly $10 million.
She said “This was the initial piece in a phased approach to stabilize the banks and mitigate flooding in the Town of Hardwick. Proposed solutions included replacing and/or repairing failed retaining walls along the river, flood benching and floodplain restoration and creation. This was the planning piece of the puzzle.”
The project would have engaged an experienced river science engineering firm to identify conditions of the floodplain, evaluate future flood risks and identify critical areas for restoration in keeping with community goals and regulations. Next, a comprehensive restoration plan would have been developed to restore riverbank vegetation buffers with native plantings and erosion control along with a phased implementation plan.
Leahy said an important aspect of the study was to ensure the project does not create new problems in the project area, or upstream and downstream of it.
In ending the BRIC Program, all applications from Fiscal Years 2020-2023 were canceled by FEMA and any grant funds that had not yet been distributed to states, tribes, territories and local communities, were to be immediately returned either to the Disaster Relief Fund or the U.S. Treasury.
A FEMA spokesperson said, “The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, we are committed to ensuring that Americans in crisis can get the help and resources they need.”
The BRIC Program was created by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and signed Into Law by President Trump during his first term in office. The program helps state and local governments improve infrastructure by raising roads, improving drainage, creating power sources, and more,” noted Schumer’s Senate website.
In an April 8 letter to Secretary Noem, Schumer wrote about the benefit gained from the kind of work funded by the BRIC Program. “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has stated that every $1 invested in disaster preparedness saves communities $13 in damages, cleanup and recovery costs. The BRIC investments are not only a smart choice to save lives and property, but they also make economic sense.
“Stephanie Smith, the state Hazard Mitigation Officer, said Vermont will lose out on the $2 million it received annually from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities fund,” reported Vermont Public. “She said the cancellation will also affect $2.7 million in funding that FEMA had awarded to about 40 projects in past years but had not yet been paid out. It’s definitely disappointing,”
“This newest announcement will only create more waste when houses, roads, and more are ruined with no resources to rebuild,” said Sen. Schumer.
This may be just the beginning of a bigger change as CNN reported in late March “Top officials from FEMA and Department of Homeland Security met Tuesday, [March 25], CNN has learned, to discuss the future of the disaster relief agency and their options for shutting it down.” Administration officials have recently echoed a 2014 CATO Institute commentary in which Chris Edwards said, “FEMA’s main activity is handing out cash after disasters, but states and private organizations can fill that role. The states can build up emergency reserve funds, and they can rely on help from other states during crises under existing multi-state agreements.
“When the federal government tries to do too much, it crowds out other efforts and usually bungles the job. That is true of FEMA, which does little, if anything, that the states could not do for themselves.”
Leahy stressed the importance of Hardwick having shovel-ready projects when grants become available, citing it as one area the town is working on to be better able to take advantage of future opportunities.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
