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The goal of the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program is to employ cost-effective measures to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to buildings, manufactured homes, and other structures. This includes $340 million for Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects (previously Community Flood Mitigation Projects) and $400 million total for individual projects. The priorities for this program are to incentivize investments that reduce risk and increase pre-disaster mitigation. Individuals and businesses are not eligible to apply for HMA funds; however, an eligible Applicant or subapplicant may apply for funding on behalf of individuals and businesses.
Vulnerability to natural hazards is complex and influenced by many factors, so system-based mitigation encourages projects that address the interconnectedness and provide benefits to the whole community. The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program supports the use of system-based mitigation approaches in projects by prioritizing equity, addressing future conditions due to climate change, enhancing hazard mitigation planning and building code implementation and enforcement, supporting nature-based solutions, and leveraging partnerships.
Grant Recipient: Town of Henrietta, VA and Village of Singer’s Falls, VA
Lead applicant: Henrietta, VA
Is lead applicant a city or town? Town
Supporting municipalities: Singer’s Falls, VA
Project title: 2022 Flood Rapid Response and Building Community Resilience
Municipal Vulnerability Program region: Shenandoah/Blue Ridge
Project type: Select 1 (best fit):
☐Type 1: Planning, Assessments, Capacity Building, and Regulatory Updates
☐Type 2: Design and Permitting
☒Type 3: Construction and On-the-Ground Implementation
Does your community have a mapped Environmental Justice population?
☒Yes
☐No
Legal address of applicant: Town of Henrietta Planning Department, Town Hall, 1410 Main St, Suite 621, Henrietta, VA
Local Project Manager and Point of Contact: Miranda Mullins
Job title: Principal/Town of Henrietta Acting Disaster Management Officer
Department/agency: Miranda Design/Build, LLC
Email: [email protected]
Match description: Henrietta is listed in Attachment N of the RFR as a mapped environmental justice community, reducing the standard 25% match to 10%. The required 10% match was met through a combination of municipal unrestricted funding (50%) and an anonymous private donor in the supporting municipality who agreed to match the remaining 50% of the Town’s outlay.
Project summary: 2022’s 200-year flood event severely impacted downtown Henrietta’s business district and Environmental Justice communities, affecting essential services and infrastructure. Funding for the Flood Rapid Response and Building Community Resilience Project leveraged community partnerships to implement disaster rapid-response services and begin longer-term rebuilding from the widespread and lasting damage. The plan’s second phase, now underway, identifies proactive infrastructure investments and capacity-building priorities to mitigate vulnerability and enhance resilience from more frequent and more severe storms, flooding, and other extreme weather events.
Representative image of the project (if possible): stopthat_chainsaw.png
Project location(s): The project’s scope prioritized the most-affected areas of Henrietta’s historic Business District, located within the FEMA flood zones, and additional delineated wetland areas indicated in Attachment C.
MID-YEAR REPORT PROJECT NARRATIVE
This narrative reports on progress in deploying the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities & Flood Mitigation Assistance (BRIC/FMA) funding awarded in 2022-23 in support of the Town of Henrietta and the Village of Singer’s Falls joint Flood Rapid Response and Building Community Resilience proposal.
In the wake of 2022’s historically catastrophic flood, which severely damaged downtown Henrietta’s core business district and Environmental Justice communities, funding for the Flood Rapid Response and Building Community Resilience Project leveraged local and regional community partnerships to implement disaster response services, and begin longer-term rebuilding from the widespread and lasting damage. The project combines both baseline infrastructural repairs to restore essential services (Phase 1), with significant additional investments in green infrastructure and community-based capacity-building to mitigate climate vulnerability and enhance resilience from more frequent and more severe storms, flooding, and other extreme weather events likely to affect Rockingham County under regional projected climatic changes (Phase 2).
As of the time of writing, 32% of the awarded funding has been deployed to implement twelve successful Phase 1 projects; 48% has been earmarked for ongoing Phase 1 project components, and ongoing and proposed Phase 2 projects; and the remaining 20% remains unallocated for additional expenses and program administration. Please see Attachment B for an itemized budget of project funding to date and outstanding funding projections.
II.a: PHASE I
The plan’s first phase restored essential services and implemented environmental remediation necessary both for immediate public health and safety hazard mitigation measures within the project area, and for completing future phases of the project. The immediate priority area for disaster response has been rebuilding the Main Street (Route 116) Bridge and the nearby 600 Block of Henrietta’s Main Street, an historic business district and the region’s key economic center (see Attachment C for a map of the priority area). Critical services and infrastructure in this area include the Grange Hall, the Fire Department and Emergency Response facilities, Dr. Parrish’s medical clinic (the town’s only medical facility), the Rockingham County Central Public Library, Magnolia Café, the Henrietta Hardware Store, and Miranda Design/Build, LLC; water, sewer, gas and electric lines, telephone and internet service serving these essential facilities; and the bridge and roadway that connects the East and West sides of Henrietta, and leads to Singer’s Falls.
The priority disaster response area also serves BRIC/FMA’s target demographics, including essential services providers, low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs and stakeholders, BIPOC and women entrepreneurs and stakeholders, and first-generation business owners. Of the community members served by funding deployed to date, 81% identify as one or more of the target demographic categories. Please see Attachment D for a list of core stakeholders, funding recipients to date, and additional demographic information.
II.b: PHASE 2
As the rapid response phase (Phase 1) concludes, the plan’s second phase, now underway, proposes to incorporate system-based mitigation approaches, itemized in the Co-Benefit chart below. These investments in green infrastructure reflect best practices intended to mitigate, infiltrate and reuse stormwater from anticipated future flooding; to implement a significant increase in renewable energy capacity on new and retrofitted structures; and to introduce a “Green Streets” initiative to offset anticipated climate impacts and a complementary “Green Building” program to invest in community resilience and equitable capacity-building ahead of Phase 2’s implementation.
II.b.1: CO-BENEFITS
Promotes Biodiversity (habitat restoration, creation, or enhancement)
- Riparian resilience infrastructure improvements will include replacing the bankside riprap swept away in the 2022 flood with densely vegetated, wetland-adapted plantings in a 50’ riparian buffer zone. Bridge redesign includes constructed freshwater bivalve reefs along DOT infrastructure, augmenting riparian habitat.
- New street tree species and proposed Green Streets rain and rooftop garden plant communities were selected for bioregional adaptation to enhance wildlife habitat and support pollinator species
Restores/remediates Project Site
- Immediate disaster response prioritized removal and remediation of environmental hazards and debris deposited from flooding.
- Repairs to the Main Street (Route 116) Bridge restored critical access between main economic and residential districts, and regional connectivity. Bridge redesign was guided by federal recommendations for hazard mitigation developed after Hurricane Sandy, including rescaling the span to anticipate projected climate impacts, such as increased future flooding.
Promotes Environmentally-Sustainable Development / Reduces Development in Climate Vulnerable Areas
- Smart Growth best practices, including adaptive reuse for extant structures, are incentivized where possible. The Planning Board is considering the merits of a Flood Hazard Overlay Zone to guide new development standards within the most vulnerable zones, while recognizing that Henrietta’s dense and walkable historic business district is otherwise aligned with Smart Growth standards.
- Green Streets initiative includes new bike lanes and bump-outs to encourage pedestrian and cyclist safety and use, and adds additional solar-powered electric chargers for private and municipal EV use.
Improved Water Quality and/or Increased Groundwater Recharge
- Green Streets initiative to include a redesign of Main Street with permeable paving, naturalized and appropriately sized culverts, and regraded vegetated swales/rain gardens that infiltrate and capture stormwater.
- Riparian resilience infrastructure will slow flow, stabilize banks to reduce erosion, increase filtration and improve water quality downstream.
- Future phase to include redesign and expansion of Henrietta’s waterfront linear park to function as a floodplain forest and additional water retention buffer zone. Conservation Commission is in process of revising the Open Space and Conservation Plan to reassess floodplain management and riparian buffer conservation standards at the watershed level, possibly via regional river corridor protection area overlay districts.
Improved Air Quality
- Retrofitting structures with energy-efficient building and infrastructure (described below) will reduce point-source emissions.
- Street trees and rain/rooftop gardens will improve air quality outcomes.
Climate Mitigation (carbon sequestration, site-scale improvements for cooling, reduced energy use)
- Planting climate-adapted tree species is intended to absorb stormwater, reduce urban heat island effects, support pollinators, and sequester carbon.
- Individual business owners will be incentivized to opt into natural building techniques and green infrastructure aligned with low-impact development standards, including passive solar construction and adding solar capacity to rebuilt and repaired structures to reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources; adding rooftop gardens to infiltrate precipitation and absorb solar radiation, reducing need for cooling; converting paving to permeable surfaces to improve infiltration; reusing natural materials; and retrofitting to direct stormwater runoff to rain barrels, retention ponds, and vegetated swales/rain gardens where compliant with occupational health and safety standards and revised planning codes.
II.c: SUPPORTING MUNICIPALITIES
The proposal was a joint application from the municipalities of Henrietta and Singer’s Falls. Although the higher-elevation Village of Singer’s Falls was less severely impacted by the 2022 flood, and proposed implementation is limited to within the boundaries of the Town of Henrietta, the partnership is mutually beneficial because residents of Singer’s Falls are largely economically reliant on Henrietta’s physical and economic infrastructure. Singer’s Falls is also a key partner in developing regional protection and conservation strategies to mitigate hazards at a watershed scale.
Please see Attachment D for Letters of Support from each municipality.
II.d: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PARTNERSHIP PLAN
Public involvement and community engagement are both core elements of this project. The project committee was open to the members of the public from both municipalities, and the proposal took shape through an extremely robust public meeting process. Roughly 75% of the impacted business owners, the Landowner’s Association, and other Main Street stakeholders participated in the proposal drafting process, plus additional participation from non-impacted community members, comprising roughly 25% of the Town of Henrietta’s voting population. The completed proposal was presented and approved by a 51% majority at the 2022 Q2 Henrietta town meeting, held in person at the Grange Hall, and approved by a non-binding resolution from the Singer’s Falls selectboard.
The project committee committed to presenting ongoing updates at quarterly town meetings and soliciting further feedback from community members. Upcoming meeting agendas will be posted on the planning board department website (when back online) and posted at the Grange Hall noticeboard 48 hours in advance of meetings; meeting minutes will be posted on the planning board department website (when back online) and posted at the Grange Hall noticeboard within ten business days of meetings. Members of the public, especially those with relevant experience and skills, are invited to join the project committee at any time.
To further encourage and incorporate community feedback into the project, the project committee and community implementation partners present a brief report and proposal updates for each phase at quarterly and as-needed town meetings, open to public comment and majority approval on each project component before moving forward, per Town bylaws. Should proposals or proposal components not pass public review, members of the public with additional objections or suggestions will be strongly encouraged to participate in a revision process, to be completed within 30 business days of the initial presentation. Please see Attachment E for selected meeting notes reflecting the highly participatory engagement process.
The proposal also relies on participatory community engagement for its implementation, and incentivizes partnerships between local entrepreneurs to leverage funding effectively and reinvest in our community. As a core stakeholder, Miranda Design/Build, LLC offered to partner with impacted business owners, stakeholders and volunteers on the 600 Block and surrounding areas to carry out repairs and implement new construction, and have accepted community member work-share hours in partial remit of pass-through funding from the grant award. Fourteen community members have received on-site training as needed from licensed and permitted Miranda crew members, subject to a liability waiver from work-share participants. Phase 2 proposes to build on and re-invest in these community partnerships with a formalized municipal green building training program plan, both to support immediate capacity-building towards implementing project components, and investing in green jobs as part of a longer-term community climate resilience strategy. The grant-subsidized on-site training offered by Miranda Design/Build will serve as the pilot program for the green building training program.
Attachment A: Mid-year Report Grantee Profile and Impact Story
Grantee Profile: Parrish Clinic/The Sweet Tooth, 671 Main Street
The project’s first community partnership rebuilt the structure housing Dr. Adam Parrish’s medical clinic, located at 671 Main Street, and adjoining tenant, The Sweet Tooth bakery, owned and operated by Shelley Carter. This high-impact coalition of target population community members leveraged funding to remediate and rebuild facilities for two businesses with shared infrastructure, efficiently restoring services. The clinic and bakery, which share a building, were both structurally compromised by the flood, and significant environmental remediation was required as part of the demolition process.
Dr. Parrish has practiced family medicine at the clinic since 2019, serving Henrietta, Singer’s Falls and adjoining towns. Carter has owned the bakery since 2010 and was named on the Best of the Valley shortlist in 2014 and 2020. Between them, Parrish and Carter represent one essential services provider, one low-to-moderate income entrepreneur, one disabled business owner, one BIPOC entrepreneur, one female-owned business, and two first-generation business owners. The business owners participated in the design and construction process in collaboration with Miranda Design/Build LLD and additional contractors executing permitted work. Community members from both municipalities volunteered and piloted the Miranda Design/Build training program, helping to complete the rebuild.
Constituent Statements
- “Flood insurance was of limited utility at best in the immediate term, so this additional emergency funding was critical to getting the clinic back online. We’re staying right here.” -- Dr. Adam Parrish
- “I certainly learned a lot and I’m pretty sure this deck will make it through the next rainstorm, at least.” -- Carl Bennett, carpentry contractor
Outcomes and Lessons Learned
While initially intended simply to rebuild within the footprint of the previous structure, combining adjacent facilities with shared infrastructure ultimately reduced materials and overage significantly, and has been adopted as a best practice for full demolition and rebuilding projects. Although the property owner and tenant elected not to relocate to a less-vulnerable location outside the flood zone, the redesign mitigates hazards through HVAC systems that exceed state standards, elevating the first floor 3% above grade with ADA-compliant universal access at street level, and the green infrastructure enumerated below.
Building materials from the original structure were largely unsalvageable, so while this project represents one of the few to date that have been unable to practice adaptive reuse, the redesign prioritized green building techniques to minimize impact (see Co-Benefits listed in Report Narrative). The new structure’s passive solar construction maximizes solar gain and reduces energy needs, and part of the bakery uses cob building techniques. Organic materials for the cob structure were donated at cost from a volunteer associated with Lynch Family Farm in Singer’s Falls, emphasizing the value of community partnerships. The structure also includes a partial rooftop garden, universally accessible from Dr. Parrish’s waiting room, that provides herbs and floral ingredients for the bakery’s use (designed and installed by the same volunteer), a limited seating area for patrons, and rainwater infiltration.
As this was the first community partnership launched, the full volunteer training protocol had not yet been refined, resulting in initial minor injuries to project volunteers. Given that Dr. Parrish split his time between offering walk-in clinic hours hosted at the nearby General Store and participating in on-site demolition and construction, the project team had immediate access to on-call medical personnel, and negative outcomes were limited. Improved training and enforced adherence to jobsite regulations has significantly reduced medical incidents in all subsequent sub-projects, and a liability waiver is now part of the intake procedure.
Subsequent projects benefited significantly from having access both to functional medical facilities and a food service establishment, which served as a gathering point and commissary while nearby food service and retail businesses were under construction. Carter accessed additional small business recovery grant funds to pivot to expanded operations during the project period, and has been able to offer part-time employment to the owner and three staff members of nearby Magnolia Café while the café is being rebuilt.
Constituent Statements
- “If we can make it through this one, we can make it through anything, probably.” – Miranda Mullins, Miranda Design/Build LLC principal and project supervisor