Elizabethton City Council to consider grants to mitigate future disasters

ELIZABETHTON — It has been nearly 15 months since the Hurricane Helene brought devastation to the region and the storm still is a prominent part of the agenda of the Elizabethton City Council. But council members won't mind the disaster topics on tonight's agenda because they are mostly about grant opportunities and funding for hazard mitigation. Some of the grants could eventually amount to a few million dollars invested to make the city safer in future storms. Some of the best news is that the city has already been approved in November for $1,133,270.30 from the Governor's Response and Recovery Fund for the resurfacing of several city streets. The city staff hopes to use this funding to repave Sycamore Street, East E Street, and East Elk Avenue. These city said these streets are in need of repaving after the extremely heave traffic they carried after the Hurricane Helene damage to the Broad Street Bridge forced its closure from Sept. 27, 2024 to July 2, 2025. During this time, most of the traffic that normally used the Broad Street Bridge to cross the Doe River converted to using the Elk Avenue Bridge. The downtown streets experienced bumper to bumper traffic during most of that time. Even though large trucks were not permitted in the downtown area, many used those streets on a daily basis. The result is that those streets have been heavily worn. Even more good news for the city is that the grant does not require matching funds from the city. Another grant city council will consider is a Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant for property acquisition. There are seven properties up for consideration, but the exact number of properties acquired by the city will not be known until all negotiations are conducted. City Manager Daniel Estes said several property owners who had suffered flooding during Hurricane Helene were contacted to see if they were interested in selling their properties under the program. He said seven properties are currently on the list. Negotiations are continuing and not all the properties might be purchased under the grant. Estes said these sales are purely voluntary be the property owners and no one is being forced to sell. Unlike the street resurfacing grant, this one will require matching funds. It is likely the city would pay a 12.5% local match. The most conspicuous property on the list is the Tom Cowan law office property at 111 S. Main St. The appraised amount is $850,000. The city has already been in negotiations with the Cowan family because the property is adjacent to the Covered Bridge Park and would make the park more spacious and usable. Estes said negotiations are continuing. There is another property which would help expand another city park. That is the Stout Property at 226 North Riverside Drive. It has an appraised value of $425,000. That property sits on the northern boundary of Edwards Island and would provide added space for future park facilities. Other properties on the list include 611 North East Street, appraised at $135,000; the property at 351 Race St., appraised at $25,000; the property at 391 Race St., appraised at $5,000; the property at 322 Race St., appraised at $4,000; and the property at 322 Race St., appraised at $1,000. There are two other TEMA Hazard Mitigation Grants the city council will consider. These are both for emergency equipment that the city's experiences during the disaster revealed were needed. One of the grants would purchase eight backup generators for various city departments. The total cost of the generators would be $1,157,071. The 25% local match would be $289,267.75. The other grant would purchase emergency electronic message signs to alert traffic to detours, such as the Broad Street Bridge closure. The total cost of four of these signs would be $80,000. The local match would be $20,000. During Hurricane Helene, the city rented such message signs for $400 per day.