More than a year after submitting its initial application, Galveston County has received a federal grant award to purchase properties on Bolivar Peninsula destroyed by Hurricane Ike in September 2008.
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program allows the county to offer eligible homeowners 75% of the pre-Ike value of their property plus improvements, minus the benefits already paid (such as flood and windstorm insurance).  All transactions are voluntary, and purchased properties must remain undeveloped in perpetuity.

Approximately a dozen homes in Jamaica Beach are included in the County’s $102,716,260 grant award. Additionally, a limited number of elevations also are under consideration in the county’s HMGP project, all of them on the mainland.

The complex grant application was assembled and submitted by the county’s grant consultant, Beck Disaster Recovery, over the past year with assistance from the Office of Emergency Management. It is the single largest buyout award ever granted in Texas, and the largest grant by far ever awarded to Galveston County. 

The Galveston County Commissioners Court will determine exactly which homeowners are offered a buyout. While the list is currently being finalized, commissioners have repeatedly indicated a preference for buying out beachfront properties on Bolivar, as well as Gilchrist and a limited number of “public purpose” properties which may contribute to overall drainage, recreational, or land use improvements.

“This program will allow hundreds of Bolivar Peninsula residents to move on with their lives and establish a permanent housing solution,” said John Simsen, emergency management coordinator for the county. “We are pleased and elated that the HMGP award has finally been granted, and we are hopeful that it leads to better housing for our citizens and fewer flood-damaged homes in the future.”

Buyout applicants will be contacted soon by Beck Disaster Recovery to schedule appraisals and other preliminary work. Interested citizens also may call the buyout hotline at 866-957-2325.
 

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