Haywood County hires consultant to prepare hazard mitigation grant applications
Haywood County Recovery and Resilience officer Cody Grasty speaks to Haywood County commissioners on Aug. 18.
Haywood County government photo
When Hurricane Helene unleashed more than a foot of rain across Haywood County in less than 24 hours last September, floodwaters swept through homes, businesses and infrastructure, leaving behind damage that local officials quickly recognized would take years to repair.
That storm, which triggered a federal disaster declaration, also unlocked eligibility for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Now, the county has taken the first formal step toward pursuing those funds by hiring a consulting firm to manage and expedite the complex application processes.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program was established as part of the Stafford Act in 1988 and provides funding to states, tribes, territories or local governments after a presidentially declared disaster to implement long-term projects that reduce risk and vulnerability to future events. The amount available to a given applicant is based on a formula tied to the total federal assistance allocated for recovery, generally equating to 15% of that total federal assistance for that disaster.
Unlike other Stafford disaster relief programs, which focus on response and recovery, the HMGP program is designed to break the cycle of repetitive losses by financing measures such as home elevations, buyouts, slope stabilization, drainage improvements and infrastructure hardening.
Administered through state emergency management agencies, HMGP requires applicants to demonstrate cost-effectiveness and compliance with federal environmental and historic preservation standards, with the goal of ensuring that every dollar spent reduces future damages and enhances community resilience.
On July 14, the county issued a formal request for proposals for application development and grant support services related to HMGP, also making clear the consultant would be expected to solicit applications from homeowners, businesses, local units of government and nonprofits, then compile and submit FEMA-ready project packages in compliance with both state and federal requirements.
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“We engaged with the state several months ago about what can we do to help them move along mitigation applications, so it doesn’t take as long for applicants as it maybe did during [Tropical Storm] Fred. They’ve had record numbers of applications come in, somewhere on the order of 1,000-plus across Western North Carolina,” Haywood County Recovery and Resilience officer Cody Grasty told Haywood commissioners Aug. 18. “One of the options that came up during some conversations was that Haywood County could acquire our own contractor to put together the project application — that’s the bundle of homeowner applications together — and have that contractor develop comprehensive completed applications … instead of the state developing those project applications on our behalf. ”
The scope of work outlined in the request for proposals is broad. The vendor would attend meetings with applicants, develop and submit HMGP applications, assist with required documentation such as site inventories and elevation certificates and provide feasibility and cost-effectiveness analyses.
The RFP also called for handling specialized work including environmental and historic preservation reviews, geotechnical surveys, structural assessments and imminent threat evaluations. The consultant would also prepare letters of interest, respond to requests for information from state and federal officials and maintain all records on county systems.
The contract period requires all work to be completed by the end of the year. The cost of the consultants is reimbursable.
“There’s no dollars out of our own pocket other than the 30-day turnaround to get the dollars back in, once approved,” Grasty said.
The county’s recovery and resiliency team reported receiving three proposals in response to the solicitation — from Cogent Consulting LLC, Insight Consulting Group LLC and Tetra Tech, Inc.
According to an internal justification and recommendation document, the evaluation committee determined that Insight offered the strongest combination of experience, cost and understanding of county needs.
The recommendation noted that Insight has substantial experience developing HMGP applications and a track record of delivering FEMA-compliant results.
Based in Wilmington and Mount Olive, Insight was founded by C. Ryan Cox, a certified floodplain manager who previously served as the state hazard mitigation officer for North Carolina Emergency Management.
In its July 25 proposal to Haywood County, Insight emphasized that it has managed more than 75 HMGP projects nationwide, in addition to work on FEMA’s public assistance and flood mitigation assistance programs. The firm said it has overseen more than $12 billion in grants.
The proposal highlighted Insight’s previous work in North Carolina counties hit by hurricanes, including property acquisitions and demolitions under HMGP projects in Craven, Duplin, Hyde, Jones, Nash and Pamlico counties, as well as two acquisition/demolition projects from Tropical Storm Fred in Haywood County last year.
The proposal also lists Texas-based KB Advising, a Native American and minority-owned firm specializing in hazard mitigation, and Summit Design and Engineering Services, a North Carolina-based engineering company with offices statewide, as subconsultants.
To manage the project, Insight proposed a centralized system using Microsoft SharePoint and a custom application tracker to coordinate intake, processing and documentation. This system would allow county staff and consultants to collaborate on feasibility reports, surveys, geotechnical data and benefit-cost analyses while serving as the repository for all final files.
The firm will review existing applications already received by the county for accuracy and completeness, then holding intake meetings to address deficiencies and process new applications.
Completed applications would be grouped by project type — such as elevation, acquisition, reconstruction, or infrastructure mitigation — and submitted as letters of interest to NCEM on a rolling basis.
“Some of these folks have been probably flooded four times in 20 years,” said Commissioner Tommy Long.
“I’ve had that conversation with a dozen or so [homeowners],” Grasty said. “And what they say to me is they don’t want to sell their home. What they want is that no one else will go through this.”
Insight’s proposed timeline assumed a start date of Aug. 1, 2025. Initial application assessments would run through mid-August, with intake meetings scheduled later that month.
Additional applications would be accepted through Sept. 30. Processing of documentation would extend through Oct. 17, with packaging and letters of intent submissions continuing into late fall. Infrastructure projects would be identified and developed between August and December, with final applications submitted by year’s end.
Insight submitted its cost proposal on a time-and-materials basis, listing hourly labor rates ranging from $75 for administrative staff to $240 for senior structural engineers. The president and principal consultant rate was set at $220 per hour, with other key roles, including grant managers ($140) and environmental advisors, ($140) falling in-between.
The firm noted that pre-award costs, reimbursable expenses and direct project costs such as surveys and design narratives are all allowable under FEMA and NCEM rules, provided they receive pre-approval.
Haywood County’s RFP stressed that the contract and related activities were contingent on the county receiving sufficient state funding to support the work. It also made clear that the county reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. But with a recommendation for award already in place and a clear preference for Insight’s qualifications, the county appears poised to move forward.
