But not all residents will be eligible for compensation
Good news for Cornwall residents who experienced property damage as a result of flooding from tropical storm Ida in August. Last week the state approved up to $2 million in emergency funding to eligible homeowners in five downstate counties.
“I think it’s great we worked together to bring some aid to Orange County,” Town of Cornwall Supervisor Richard Randazzo said of the efforts of Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, Senator James Skoufis, and County Executive Steven Neuhaus.
Earlier this month the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied individual assistance funding claiming the county didn’t meet the threshold for funding for private residences and businesses because there wasn’t enough damage. It’s believed a county must have at least 25 private structures with substantial structural damage, broken foundations, collapsed walls etc., in order to qualify for federal relief. Aid was approved for repairs to public infrastructure.
In the days after the storm, Randazzo requested residents submit information regarding the damage sustained in an attempt to join the rest of the county in obtaining federal funding. He said about 50 residents responded citing flooded basements and living areas, damaged equipment like boilers, destroyed personal property, and washed out backyards, and driveways.
Randazzo said some residents sustained $75,000 in damages.
Unfortunately, not every resident will be eligible for aid.
The grant funds cover damage incurred at a primary residence for homeowners who meet the program’s income guidelines, meaning households earning up to 200 percent of Orange County’s average median income.
Homeowners can apply to receive funding to cover the cost of emergency repairs necessary to bring their home into a safe and habitable condition. Eligible repairs may include but are not limited to repair or replacement of electrical and plumbing systems; furnaces, water heaters, water filtration systems, sump pumps, appliances, and remediation of other health hazards, such as testing and clearance costs.
New York State Homes and Community Renewal will oversee the program which will be administered by four locally based, non-profit organizations with existing HCR contracts for similar housing rehabilitation programs.
The emergency funding is intended to serve as a bridge as New York waits for additional federal funding under the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Congress passed earlier this fall through funding programs like the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program (CDBG-DR).
To apply for relief, residents should contact the call center at 646-786-0888.
In terms of public infrastructure, the town is still seeking the replacement of the bridge on Continental Road. Randazzo said the Town Board will authorize, next month, a surveyor to survey the area so engineers can put together the specs for a new culvert bridge.
Central Hudson, meanwhile, has been relocating the gas line, which had been suspended under the former bridge, underground.
Randazzo has received calls from residents who live on the other side of the stream and have had to use the second Route 9W entrance to Continental Road heading southbound. The supervisor reached out to the Department of Transportation requesting additional signage alerting motorists of the intersection because of a bend in the road in that area. He said the DOT will be sending out an investigator.