Members of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery sought reassurance that home repair and reconstruction in the western part of the state would be better run than it has been in the east.
Deputy Secretary for Community Recovery Stephanie McGarrah and Jonathan Krebs, western recovery advisor for Gov. Josh Stein, described how their proposed action plan incorporates lessons from earlier storms in North Carolina and other states.
Krebs assured members that “as long we do what we say we were going to do in that action plan, HUD will reimburse those costs at 100%.” The General Assembly had not directed any of the $1.1 billion appropriated in 2024 to housing because that answer was not clear. They were also hesitant to give any more money to the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), which was responsible for home repairs and reconstruction in the east.
“We’re counting on you, but more importantly, folks in the west are counting on you.”
Rep. Brenden Jones
Chairman Brenden Jones (R-Columbus) was emphatic about the failure of NCORR and the need for the GrowNC response to Helene to do better with its $1.4 billion in federal funds. He was glad to hear that McGarrah would be in Western Norh Carolina regularly and many of the staff hired by her Division of Community Revitalization would live and work in the region.
Sen. Tim Moffit (R-Polk), Sen. Steve Jarvis (R-Davidson, Davie), Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Macon), and Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood) worried about higher costs from excessive local, state, and federal regulation. They insisted that people should not be forced from land that may have been in their family for generations.
Rep. Pless also expressed concern that the action plan directs $53 million to build new affordable housing and workforce housing instead of replacing or repairing homes damaged by the Helene.
In his closing comments, Krebs offered three statutory changes that could help. First, the state could offer an affidavit to help resolve properties with multiple heirs, as in Texas. Second, a Florida law provides a model to speed permits and inspections. Third would be to ensure agencies have “prepositioned contracts” with vendors to respond rapidly in an emergency.
After reminding Krebs and McGarrah that “failure is not an option,” Chairman Jones reiterated, “We’re counting on you, but more importantly, folks in the west are counting on you.”