SCHUMER CALLS ON USDA TO MEET WITH LOCALS REGARDING EXPENSIVE FLOOD REPAIR AND MITIGATION PROJECTS; VILLAGE OF AVON WAS PUMMELED BY RECENT FLOODS & NOW THE VILLIAGE COULD BE STUCK PAYING FOR EXPENSIVE PROJECTS TO UPDATE LOCAL WATER SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE
Village of Avon Residents & Businesses in Livingston County Suffered Severe Damage Following July 2014 and May 2015 Storm-Induced Flooding – Rains Tore Up Several Roads, Flooded Homes, Businesses & Overwhelmed Storm Water Infrastructure
While Avon Was Able to Conduct a Study in Aftermath to Find Possible Areas For Flood Prevention to Guard Against Future Storms, The Critical Repairs to Storm Water Infrastructure That Engineers Say Are Needed Would Place Unmanageable Burden on Taxpayers & Small Municipality
Schumer to USDA: Meet With Locals to Find Opportunities for Funding to Make Flood Mitigation Possibel
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to meet with locals in the Village of Avon in Livingston County to help find ways to make repairs and upgrades to its storm water infrastructure possible in order to prevent future flood damage. Schumer explained that in July 2014 and May 2015, the small village and its residents and businesses experienced severe damage due storm-induced flooding. The flooding deluged homes, business, roads, and infrastructure and caused costly damage. In the aftermath, the village worked with an engineering consultant to study and develop a storm water improvement report, which was presented to the public this week. The report analyzed the existing drain water system infrastructure and identified several specific choke point “hot spot” points in the system that are not adequately able to handle storm water loads. The report recommended improvements to the village’s storm water infrastructure as a result of this report, but locals say the small village might have difficulty footing the cost of massive repairs. As a result, Schumer is pushing the USDA to direct agency personnel to meet with representatives from his office and with the Mayor and officials from the Village of Avon to find ways to make improvements a reality and pursue available grant and financing programs.
“Small villages like Avon are under immense financial pressure, and the federal government should be doing everything it can to help fund these kinds of water infrastructure projects so area residents and businesses are not left holding the bag. These back-to-back storms in 2014 and 2015 overwhelmed the storm water infrastructure in the area and made it clear updates are desperately needed. The village has even identified systems and culverts that can be updated – but it cannot shoulder this cost alone without passing along a very heavy burden to local taxpayers. So I am urging the USDA to direct personnel to the area to meet with locals and identify funding opportunities so we can make these improvements a reality and make these absolutely vital repairs so the Village of Avon can better withstand future storms,” said Schumer.
Schumer explained that the report identifies several improvement opportunities such as construction of detention ponds on local agricultural lands and upsizing of culverts to better manage and safely divert storm water loads. However, a large price tag could force locals to bear an unfair tax burden for repairs or stymie the village’s effort to guard against future floods altogether. As a result, Schumer is asking the USDA to meet with his office and locals in the Village of Avon to find a way to make repairs possible by exploring and identifying available federal and state funding streams. Many residents have endured localized flooding over past years caused by routine rains, further highlighting the need to address the region’s storm water system deficiencies as soon as possible.
In July 2014, Avon was pummeled with over eight inches of rain that fell within an eight hour span and flooded homes and business. The resulting floods tore up several roads and overwhelmed or damaged culverts and storm water infrastructure. While Avon officials and residents worked since July to repair the damage and evaluate needed upgrades to avoid damage from future storms, the area was hit by another storm in May 2015 that dropped four inches of rain in one hour that deluged homes, business, roads, and infrastructure and caused costly damage. Schumer’s request to explore potential USDA funding comes a month after Schumer successfully pushed New York State to make more grants, as opposed to loans, available this year to communities applying for funding through the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC). Schumer said NYS will now make $46 million in grants available this year, as a result of his push, on top of loan awards to towns that apply for funding for water and wastewater infrastructure projects. Schumer said he would support Avon if and when it decided to apply for EFC financing to fund these water projects.
A copy of Senator Schumer’s letter to the USDA appears below:
Dear Secretary Vilsack:
I am writing you today to request your agency’s attention and support to assist the Village of Avon, NY assess and pursue available USDA funding in order to repair and upgrade storm water infrastructure and undertake flood mitigation improvements needed to prevent damage from future storm-induced flood events like those experience by Avon last July and again this month. Specifically I ask that you direct agency personnel from USDA agencies such as USDA Rural Development, USDA Rural Utility Service, and the USDA National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to meet with representatives from my office and with the Mayor and officials from the Village of Avon, NY to pursue available grant and financing programs.
The need to improve the Village’s storm water infrastructure was underscored this past July 28-29, 2014 when Avon was pummeled with over eight inches of rain that fell within an eight hour span and flooded homes and business, tore up several roads and overwhelmed or damaged culverts and storm water infrastructure. And while Avon officials and residents worked since July to repair the damage and evaluate needed upgrades to avoid damage from future storms, just this month on May 11, 2015 the area was hit by another storm that dropped four inches of rain in one hour that deluged homes, business, roads, and infrastructure and caused costly damage. And even apart from these particular storm events, many residents have endured localized flooding over past years caused by routine rains further highlighting the need to address the region’s storm water system deficiencies.
Fortunately, the Village of Avon together with their engineering consultant has developed a storm water improvement report that was presented to the public this week. The report analyzed the existing drain water system infrastructure and identified several specific choke point “hot spot” points in the system that are not adequately able to handle storm water loads. The report identifies several improvement opportunities such as construction of detention ponds on local agricultural lands and upsizing of culverts to better manage and safely divert storm water loads.
Avon is a small, three-square mile municipality and as such is limited in its ability to self-fund many of these improvements. That is why I am asking for USDA’s assistance to help officials identify and apply for federal funding assistance. In particular the USDA Rural Development's Water & Waste Disposal Loan & Grant Program, the Community Facilities Loans, Loan Guarantees, and Grants programs, or USDA’s Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund that is jointly funded program with CoBank are a few of the financing programs offered through USDA that may fund the types of storm water repairs and upgrades identified by the Village of Avon.
I appreciate your consideration of my request and commend you and your agency’s innovative efforts to expand access to capital for rural communities across the country like Avon, NY. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
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