Public Hearing Notice

The Commonwealth of Virginia will hold a public hearing on October 15, 2015 to solicit public input on the proposed Virginia Disaster Resilience Proposal to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC).  The proposal will target resiliency projects in the Cities of Chesapeake, Newport News, and Norfolk.  The proposal, thRIVe, Resiliency in Virginia, will target a series of infrastructure, watershed, and community and economic development activities intended to re-invent the region around a shared understanding of how to live with water, in response to on-going environmental changes.  Activities are intended to primarily benefit vulnerable, low- to moderate- income residents, while also addressing unmet needs from prior events.

NDRC is a two-phase process that will competitively award approximately $1 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds to eligible states, counties, and cities nationwide. The competition will help communities recover from prior federally declared disasters in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and improve their ability to withstand and recover more quickly from future disasters, hazards, stresses and shocks.

A draft proposal will be available at the hearing location and online at the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development website at: http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/index.php/virginias-resiliency-plan.html.  Public comment will be received from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the following locations on October 15, 2015. 

City of Chesapeake

Tidewater Community College
Student Center
Room 3100 – Chesapeake Bay Multi-Purpose
1428 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, VA  23322

City of Newport News

Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center
Room – L. Mario Poe
2410 Wickham Ave,
Newport News, VA  23607

Public comment will be received from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the following location on October 15, 2015. 

City of Norfolk

Grandy Village Learning Center
2971 Kimball Loop
Norfolk, VA 23504

The public comment period will extend through October 21, 2015. Comments may be submitted to Chris.Thompson@dhcd.virginia.gov or

Chris Thompson
Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development
600 East Main Street, Suite 300
Richmond, VA 23219

If you plan to attend and have any special needs requirements, please call 804-371-7110.

All comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on October 21, 2015.  More information is available online at: http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/index.php/virginias-resiliency-plan.html.

At the end of the comment period, all comments shall be reviewed. A summary of the comments will be submitted along with the proposal.