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Mahoning County commissioners talk flood relief
LOWELLVILLE
The U.S. Small Business Administration is urging county residents still recovering from May storms and water damage to visit the federal assistance center set to open Friday in Boardman.
Tamim Choudhury, SBA spokesman, said homeowners who don’t qualify for grant assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency might still qualify for a loan of up to $200,000, at a 1.9-percent interest rate, to repair damages from the May 28 storm. Renters also could get up to $40,000 for damages to personal property such as furniture or appliances.
“We see grant money is often not enough to completely rebuild a home,” Choudhury said during a meeting of Mahoning County commissioners Wednesday evening in Lowellville Village hall.
But he said the first step is registering either online at disasterassistance.gov or in-person at the federal Disaster Recovery Center, which will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday at the Boardman Township Administration building, 8299 Market St.
Businesses and nonprofits also may qualify for up to $2 million in loans at interest rates of 4 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively, to pay for physical damages, Choudhury said. Businesses that didn’t sustain storm damage but have lost business or suffered economically as a direct result of the storm can also apply for economic injury disaster loans, which can provide working capital.
For all relief loans, the repayment rates vary from seven to 30 years, Choudhury said.
The deadline for home-owners to apply for FEMA grant assistance is Aug. 19; the deadline for economic injury loans is March 18. To apply for an SBA loan, visit disasterloan.sba.gov.
Choudhury said a visit to the temporary center in Boardman will typically take a half-hour. FEMA representatives will ask basic questions about the household and plug in homeowners’ information, such as address and Social Security number. In some cases, officers will visit the home to review the damage, he said.
Applicants will know whether they’re approved in an average of two to four weeks, he said.
Dennis O’Hara, Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency director, said Wednesday that county officials are considering forming a committee dedicated to long-term disaster recovery efforts.
Bill Coleman, office manager for the county’s sanitary engineer department, recommended residents who own older homes built more than 60 years ago consider removing downspouts or footer drains, which were a common design.
“This overloads not only your system in your home, it actually works its way into our sanitary system,” he said. “When the sewer does back up into someone’s home, it’s because the system is taking on excess [stormwater] it can’t handle.”
In other business Wednesday, commissioners presented a $90,000 check to village officials, paid out of the county’s general fund to match Ohio Public Works Commission funding.
Mayor James Iuduciani said the money will go toward laying new asphalt and sidewalks and replacing deteriorating sandstone curbs from state Route 289 to West Wood Street Extension.
Mahoning County was not able to fund all eight requests for Community Development Block Grant funding received this past year – recently capped by the state at about $300,000. Instead, officials funded four of those projects out of the general fund – about $350,000 spread out between 2019 and 2020, said Anna DeAscentis, county grant manager.
Commissioners also awarded a contract to extend Galluppi Lane in Coitsville Township to Foust Construction Inc. of Girard, for $43,395 – a project that was also a part of the 2018 CDBG cycle.
DeAscentis said it’s currently “impossible” for firetrucks to reach homes in the dead-end cul-de-sac.
“It has been a long desire of ours to have that area taken care of,” said Coitsville Trustee Phyllis Johnson. “Residents are very excited about what’s going to occur there.”