The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCR&R) announced results for one of the two funding programs that the Town of Robbins applied for in the wake of Hurricane Florence.
Robbins will receive a total of $500,000 in the form of a stimulus grant designated for financially distressed local governments after Florence. This grant was designed to give up to $1,000,000 to eligible municipalities for assistance with operating budget expenses and building capacity to support disaster recovery efforts.
Robbins does not yet know its status on the $2,000,000 revolving loan it applied for with the NCR&R entitled “State Revolving Loan for Temporary Cash Assistance to Local Governments.” The loan is a 0% interest loan for expenses that are reimbursable through various federal disaster response, recovery, and resilience programs. The office will be meeting with the Local Government Commission this week to consider the grant.
Town Manager David Lambert demonstrates water level from Florence in pumping station (Photo by Chris Prentice/Sandhills Sentinel)
“We are very grateful for the $500,000 stimulus grant and this will be helpful to address the costs not eligible for reimbursement through FEMA,” said Town Manager David Lambert. These funds will be used to address existing debt service, operational needs, and critical infrastructure needs unrelated to Hurricane Florence.
Robbins is a bit of an outlier in terms of damages relating to Hurricane Florence damage. Most of the damage of Hurricane Florence occurred in North Carolina’s eastern most counties.
“Robbins suffered damage equal to or greater than many places in eastern North Carolina, but people may not realize that because of our location in the state. At times, I am met with apprehension about the extent of damages we suffered this far inland,” said Lambert.
Robbins has worked hard to become as responsive as possible given the funding source unknowns and the
tremendous capital needs Robbins has as a result of Hurricane Florence.
According to Lambert, “Robbins has long been at a disadvantage due to North Carolina’s economic policies—namely the Tier System. My hope is that geography will not pay a part in Hurricane Recovery assistance as well. Robbins desperately needs the State Revolving Loan to be able to start reimbursable repairs to our community.”
Feature photo: Chris Prentice~Sandhills Sentinel.
Contributed
