The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has awarded two Housing Resilience Planning (HRP) projects a total of up to $850,000 in planning costs through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) HRP program for the 2025 Funding Year.
The investments will support planning activities to reduce flood vulnerability and improve housing resiliency, recovery, and affordable housing, with a focus on efforts serving low- and moderate-income persons and/or those in areas hardest hit by the 2019 floods. The overarching goal of the program is to promote comprehensive community resilience.
The two awarded projects are:
Sarpy Multijurisdictional Resilience Planning Project
The City of Bellevue has been awarded up to $500,000 for the development of a housing plan that will focus on reducing flood vulnerability and addressing affordable housing needs and conditions by incorporating sustainable, climate-resilient elements into long-term plans in the communities of Bellevue and Papillion in Sarpy County. Both communities were significantly impacted by the 2019 flooding. This plan will aid the communities as they work to address housing needs compounded by increased frequency and severity of climate events. The award will assist the municipalities in outlining obtainable short- and long-term housing and infrastructure goals. The plan will also include proposed pre-approved housing development plans prepared for priority target areas that will meet local building requirements and include stormwater and engineering designs. This approach will increase the viability of neighborhoods and create social and economic benefits.
Western Knox Communities Housing Resilience Study
The Village of Niobrara has been awarded up to $350,000 for a study across western Knox County that will help rural communities provide safe and affordable housing for low-to-moderate-income families. The study will improve access to information about flood zones, building costs, and land development areas. Each participating community will have individualized strategic plans and housing development documents created to assist their community leaders and the Knox County Development Agency in increasing the supply of resilient and affordable housing throughout the area. The project will include community housing surveys and blight studies. It will also involve analyzing floodplains, mapping community resources in participating communities, identifying infill lots and potential housing subdivisions, creating housing concepts and cost estimates, and developing affordable housing organizational infrastructure and templates.
More information about the HRP program is available in the HRP Program Guide on DED’s CDBG-DR Webpage at opportunity.nebraska.gov. For more information about the awards or CDBG-DR program, please contact the Disaster Recovery Team via email at ded.cdbgdr@nebraska.gov or by phone at 800-426-6505.
Español: Para obtener ayuda, comuníquese con el Equipo de Recuperación de Desastres por correo electrónico a ded.cdbgdr@nebraska.gov o por teléfono al 800-426-6505.
Individuals who are hearing and/or speech impaired and have a TTY may contact the Department through the Statewide Relay System by calling (711) INSTATE, (800) 833-7352 (TTY), or (800) 833-0920 (voice). The relay operator should be asked to call DED at (800) 426-6505 or (402) 471-3111. Additional information is available on the Nebraska Relay website at http://www.nebraskarelay.com Nebraska Relay offers Spanish relay service for our Spanish-speaking customers. Spanish-to-Spanish (711) or 1-888-272-5528; Spanish-to-English (711) or 1-877-564-3503. Nebraska le ofrece el servicio de relevo a nuestros clientes en español. Los consumidores de TTY pueden escribir por máquina en español y las conversaciones serán retransmitidas en espagnole y inglés.