STONE HARBOR – James Rutala, principal of Rutala Associates, a Linwood consultancy, presented a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant opportunity to Stone Harbor Borough Council Sept. 7.
The opportunity Rutala feels may gain FEMA funding involves a series of flood mitigation efforts from 80th to 96th streets, all of which are part of the borough stormwater and sanitary sewer plan. No action was taken.
During Rutala’s presentation, he spoke of the next three years as prime time for seeking disaster prevention funds from FEMA. He spoke of the high level of interest and available federal funds following the pandemic year, which also saw an historic number of named storms.
Rutala’s focus was on FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program, which is intended to aid communities as they undertake hazard mitigation projects that reduce risks associated with natural disasters.
According to Rutala, the next few years will be a time when the federal government will be especially receptive to well-thought-out proposals with internally complete solutions.
“They want proposals that do not depend on other actions that might or might not happen,” Rutala said.
