By Justin Dennis

jdennis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Nearly $900,000 in flood relief grants and loans have been awarded to Mahoning County residents and businesses, federal representatives said Thursday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $499,203 in individual assistance grants – for home repairs or other noninsured needs after the May 28 storm and flooding – since a federal disaster recovery center opened July 12 in Boardman. More than 750 county residents have sought federal assistance, including more than 300 people that have visited the center, FEMA spokesman Gerard Hammink said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved 16 disaster recovery loans totaling nearly $400,000 of about 150 applications made thus far. All but one of those loans went to Mahoning County homeowners or renters, said SBA spokesman Tamim Choudhury, who appeared before Mahoning County commissioners Thursday morning.

“We are happy with the progress, but we would like to see more people coming in,” he told The Vindicator. “A lot of people hear the word ‘loan,’ they get scared off.

“This is not something scary. If you don’t want the loan, no problem.”

At previous public meetings this month, Choudhury has said FEMA disaster recovery grants often aren’t enough to rebuild a home. He urged residents to at least apply, rather than miss an additional opportunity for relief before the Aug. 19 deadline to grant assistance.

Choudhury reminded homeowners they can increase their low-interest loan funding by 20 percent if they seek to install flooding mitigation tools such as French drains, sump pumps or, possibly, gate valves.

Homeowners whose FEMA assistance claims have been denied can appeal the decision by visiting disaster recovery center in the Boardman Township Administration Building, 8299 Market St., or by mailing a letter requesting reconsideration to FEMA’s Individual and Households Program, National Processing Service Center, P.O. Box 10055, Hyattsville, MD 20782, or faxing that letter to 800-462-7585.

In other business, commissioners awarded $847,346 to MS Consultants of Youngstown for a widening project along Western Reserve Road, between Market Street and South Avenue.

“It’s a tremendous safety burden and hassle when people try to turn left in any direction. The fact that it has so much traffic [makes it] necessary to widen that,” county Engineer Pat Ginnetti said. “That’ll certainly help development and growth over there, once you make it safer to drive.”

RT Vernal Paving and Excavating of North Lima was awarded a $3.34 million contract to perform the county’s 2019 road and safety upgrade projects, 78 percent of which was funded through the Ohio Public Works Commission.

Commissioners also approved an agreement for a speed-zone study near the intersection of Mahoning Avenue and Lipkey Road in Jackson Township, which sees an “excessive” number of auto crashes, Ginnetti said.

The study would inform the Ohio Department of Transportation, which would allow county officials to adjust or redesign the intersection or normalize varying speed limits in the area, he said.