A total of $33.9M in Federal funding was recently allocated to the City of Santa Rosa to support the unmet needs for rebuilding infrastructure damaged during the 2017 wildfires as well as to make infrastructure improvements to protect lives, homes, and businesses from future disasters. The funds come from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Infrastructure and Mitigation programs. 

Today, Tuesday, May 25, Mayor Chris Rogers, District 4 Councilmember Victoria Fleming and Fire Chief Scott Westrope met with Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) at the former site of Fire Station 5 which burned in the Tubbs Fire to acknowledge the good news. The City has prioritized its potentially eligible infrastructure projects that can utilize these funds and rebuilding Fire Station 5 at a new site is at the top of the list.  

“We have made significant progress in the last few years to build back from the 2017 fires, but there are a few challenges that we have yet to overcome such as rebuilding Fire Station 5 in a more resilient location within our Wildland Urban Interface community,” said Mayor Rogers. “This funding is going to help us to close the gap on our unmet infrastructure projects and was made possible because of Congressman Thompson’s advocacy and support for federal legislation that ensured that communities like Santa Rosa could benefit from these funds.”

The City will now be developing and submitting project applications for approval through the California Housing and Community Development (HCD), the agency responsible for approving project level use of the funds and ensuring compliance with HUD guidelines.