The BRIC program from FEMA which is financing the flood mitigation situation between Monmouth Hills and Highlands, did not come to the borough easily or without a lot of hard work, energy, keeping on top of federal projects and dedication.
Highlands has faced the water runoff problem from Monmouth Hills in neighboring Middletown Township for more than a century. Route 36 has been closed more than once because of flood waters dashing down to the residential areas of the borough. But FEMA’s innovative approach for allocating funds enabled the borough to get the financial help it needed to put a solution into motion.
Mayor Carolyn Broullon worked well with the Monmouth Hills Association and Middletown to achieve the more than $12 million the borough received in federal aid.
The Flood mitigation project for Highlands and Middletown is vast in scope. It includes constructing bioswales throughout Monmouth Hills, constructing a detention basin underneath Kavookjian Field, both located in Middletown. It also includes building a storm water pump station at Jones Creek, updating the pumps at Valley and North Streets and adding natural gas backup generators to all pump stations as well as upgrading all outfalls and associated storm water infrastructure.
The $12,193,960 the borough received under the program is a testament to cooperative efforts and dedication, Mayor Broullon pointed out, in expressing thanks to all levels of federal, state, county and municipal governments and most especially to the team at Colliers, notably Kelsey Howard, giving the borough the opportunity to vie for the funds.
Because BRIC is a FEMA program it is open to every municipality throughout the United States. That is why it is particularly significant that Highlands was able to be included.
The program is part of FEMA’s commitment to the Justice40 Initiative, instilling equity in the foundation of emergency management. Under the program, FEMA gave priority to smaller or “sub” applications that included tribes, economically disadvantaged rural communities and other disadvantaged communities throughout the nation. That strategy also enabled FEMA to expedite awards and implement mitigation solutions.
Of the grant submissions, FEMA received sub, or smaller, applications from 127 Economically Disadvantaged Rural Communities, a 15% increase over the previous year. That program offered an increased cost share which included a 90% federal share, as well as 100% management costs for all.
Structure for the program was unique. It was comprised of three separate application opportunities with the State or Territory Allocation and Tribal Set-Aside selections announced in May and the National Competition sub application awards announced last August.
Looking at the odds makes it more astounding Highlands was selected for the $12 million grant.
For the one grant cycle alone, FEMA received 803 sub applications, totaling more than $4.6 billion in requests. They came from 55 states, territories and the District of Columbia. There were also another 37 applications from tribal nations. All had to be considered and prioritized.
From the $4.6 billion allocated for the 803 applications received overall, including Highlands, FEMA selected 124 competitive projects based on the highest composite score for the funding amount available.
New Jersey had 34 applications with 15 selected. Highlands was the third largest grant request approved in the state with its $12, 193,960 total. The borough was granted the highest award of any single municipality in New Jersey. Two higher totals approved were for major utility companies in Cape May and Ocean City.
In the FY22 National Competition, 64 awarded projects included nature-based solutions from 19 states and 8 regions applied. Highlands was one of them as well.
Highlands has three years from this past October in order to design and complete the program for the grant payment to reimburse the borough.
