Escambia County will hold two public meetings to discuss the county's participation in the Hurricane Sally Voluntary Home Buyout Grants process. The meetings will be held April 12 at 3 p.m. and April 13 at 10 a.m. Both meetings will take place at the Central Office Complex, 3363 W. Park Place, Room 104. The public is welcome to attend both meetings. 

The Rebuild Florida Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Voluntary Home Buyout Program is designed to address needs that remain after all other assistance has been exhausted. This plan details how funds will be allocated to address remaining unmet need in disaster-impacted areas in Northwest Florida and reduce vulnerability through acquisitions and buyouts. This program will primarily benefit low-to-moderate income households with properties that are in a special flood hazard area and in high-risk flood areas to help reduce the impact of future disasters.

The first option is to leverage CDBG-DR funding as match for projects that are also eligible for the Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs. The second option is to work directly with the county on projects located in LMI areas to buyout residential areas in support of permanent open space supporting green infrastructure or other floodplain management systems.

The county will prioritize home buyout projects that focus on the acquisition of concentrations of residential areas that meet LMI area requirements.

Full project descriptions are available at MyEscambia.com/sallyrecoverygrant. Public comments can be emailed to sallyrecoverygrant@myescambia.com.