Senator Helming Reminds Residents of Flood Grant Application Deadline

Senator Pamela A. Helming (R,C,I-Canandaigua) reminds residents of the 54^th District who plan to apply for grant funding through the Lake Ontario Flood Recovery Program that the application deadline is quickly approaching.

Homeowners must submit their applications by Friday, Sept. 29, while small business owners, farmers, nonprofit corporations, homeowners associations, and municipalities have until Sunday, Dec. 31 to send in their applications. Homeowners should send their applications to Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing, and all other applicants should send their applications to Empire State Development.

“Assemblyman Bob Oaks and I hosted an informational meeting last month to connect those affected by the historic Lake Ontario flooding disaster with representatives of state agencies involved in this program. This meeting was an opportunity to answer questions and provide assistance with applications. Now, people who are seeking grant funding for flood remediation should remember to submit their applications by the deadline if they haven’t done so already,” Senator Helming said.

The $45 million program covers flood damage sustained from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2017 and includes flooding from Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, Seneca Lake, the Seneca River, the Oswego River, the Oneida River, Oneida Lake, and Cross Lake. Homeowners will be eligible to receive grants of up to $50,000, while owners of non-primary residences with an annual income of less than $275,000 are also eligible to obtain funding.

Owners of multiple dwellings will be eligible for grants of up to $20,000, while small businesses, farms, homeowners associations, and nonprofit corporations will be eligible for grants of up to $50,000. Counties, cities, towns, villages, and special districts are eligible to receive up to $1 million for flood-related repairs and restoration and up to $500,000 for flood mitigation.

“I encourage those impacted to submit their applications as quickly as possible. People having difficulty with their applications should contact the designated agencies and submit their partially complete application to those agencies prior to the deadline. That will put them in the queue for grant funding, and someone from the designated agency can help them finish their applications. We really want to do as much as we can to help those who suffered damage to their homes, businesses, and communities in the wake of this disaster, but people need to be mindful of these deadlines so that they can get the assistance they need,” Senator Helming said.

Grant funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and grant awards will be determined through the designated agencies. Applications for homeowners can be downloaded by visiting https://sheenhousing.org and clicking on the link for the NYS Lake Ontario Homeowner Recovery Fund.  Applications for small business owners, farmers, nonprofit corporations, and homeowners associations can be found at https://esd.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2016LakeOntarioFloodApplicationFormE.pdf.

Senator Helming represents the 54^th Senate District, which consists of Seneca and Wayne Counties, parts of Cayuga and Ontario Counties, and the towns of Lansing and Webster. For more information, please visit Senator Helming’s website, or follow @SenatorHelming on Facebook or Twitter.

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