Could Hurricane Ike Funds Pay for a New Village Plan?

leaders may have found an innovative way to pay for a new comprehensive plan. And it involves Hurricane Ike, the storm that caused flooding in this area in 2008.

Yes, you read that correctly. Montgomery is hoping to secure $100,000 in federal community development block grant funds, recently made available to counties that were declared disaster areas in 2008, after Hurricane Ike caused massive rainfall and flooding in the Midwest.

Both Kane and Kendall counties were declared disasters, which means Montgomery is doubly eligible for the grant funding. Jamie Belongia, assistant to the village manager, explained that the grants are designed to help with planning, to prevent the type of flood damage seen in Ike’s aftermath.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has made roughly $6 million available, Belongia said, with a maximum single award of $300,000. Using this grant money to draft a comprehensive plan for the village, she said, is a viable use, provided the plan also includes studies on the impact of past floods on the area, and policies to prevent those impacts in the future.

Montgomery’s current comprehensive plan runs through this year. The document, approved in 2008, included visions and directions for future development. Village staff initially suggested spending $100,000 in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget to draft a new plan, but trustees decided to hold off for one year.

The Village Board on Monday said yes to pursuing the grant money for a comprehensive plan. Trustee Andy Kaczmarek voted against the proposal—he said before the meeting that other areas more widely affected by natural disasters could use the money more.

The village already held the required public comment period on this issue, Belongia said, and the grant request, due March 30, was sent in Wednesday.