BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) – The Department of Economic Development awarded Bellevue and Papillion $500,000 to develop a housing plan that will address affordable housing needs and reducing flood vulnerability in the county.
- The DED awarded Bellevue and Papillion up to $500,000 to development a housing plan as the city still recovers from flooding
- The grant will help address flood vulnerability and affordable housing needs in the county
- "When there is a housing loss how can we be more resilient."
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Department of Economic Development awarded Bellevue and Papillion a grant to help create a plan when it comes to housing because Bellevue is still working to recover from the 2019 floods.
Carolyn Pospisil, executive director for Housing Foundation for Sarpy County said many neighbors were forced to leave the county after the floods due to the lack of affordable housing left. Now, she is looking at how to prevent that in the future.
"When there is a housing loss how can we be more resilient,” Pospisil said “How can increase our inventory so there is space for mobility, so families don't have to leave the area.”
The half-million-dollar grant pays for the development of a housing plan that will help the city start rebuilding a new inventory of affordable housing after many units were destroyed by flood water.
"It’s a priority list. So, looking at the entire county and saying where does it make the most sense infrastructure wise to do this,” Pospisil said “So that’s what one part of the grant will do, and the other part will do the actually planning for what this type of housing looks like.”
The grant will focus on creating long term plans for the community when it comes to flood resilience and affordable housing needs.
"This isn't just for one or two houses, it's what can we do with a neighborhood in order to include affordable housing in it and to meet the needs to if there is loss again, we have a place for people to go,” she said.
Pospisil said this grant will bring the city closer in terms of building more affordable housing and that this is just one step in the process.
Papillion also received money to because, according to Pospisil, the city is included in the affordable housing solution in Sarpy County.
