4673-448 Public Works Saferoom
JOINT FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL
PUBLIC NOTICE
October 10, 2025
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Florida Division of Emergency Management have received the following application for Federal grant funding. Final notice is hereby given of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) consideration to provide funding in the form of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funds will be provided in accordance with Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal actions must be reviewed and evaluated for feasible alternatives and for social, economic, historic, environmental, legal, and safety considerations. Under Executive Order (EO) 11988 and EO 11990 FEMA is required to consider alternatives to and to provide public notice of any proposed actions in or affecting floodplains or wetlands. EO 12898 also requires FEMA to provide the opportunity for public participation in the planning process and to consider potential impacts to minority or low-income populations.
Funding for the proposed project will be conditional upon compliance with all applicable federal, tribal, state and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards, permit requirements and conditions.
Applicant:
Charlotte County
Project Title:
HMGP DR-4673-(448) Public Works Saferoom
Location of Proposed Work:
17517 Seymour Ave, Port Charlotte, FL
Proposed Work and Purpose:
This project will include the design and construction of a 30,768 sqft safe room facility to house 1,282 personnel during a storm event. The proposed project aims to enhance community resilience during emergencies by allocating half of the needed staffing space in Emergency Operations Centers and Public Refuges, ensuring efficient response operations during and after storms. Establishing appropriate safe room space for essential departments, like Charlotte County Public Works, will enable the uninterrupted provision of vital services and infrastructure repair during disasters, expediting the county's recovery. In addition, there will be ground disturbance for parking, utilities, and construction staging on site.
Project Alternatives:
The alternatives to the project that have been and will be considered are 1) if no action is taken, there would be a deficit of safe room facilities to hour critical employees during storm and disaster events which would ultimately degrade response and recovery operations at all levels; and 2) a possible alternative would be to construct one safe room at either the current Public Works or Utilities locations, which would have meant a much larger footprint at one site and no ground disturbance or disruption at the other site.
Comment Period:
Comments are solicited from the public; local, state or federal agencies; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed project. The comments should be made in writing and addressed to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Bureau of Mitigation, 2555 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100. These are due within 30 days of this notice (10/10/2025). The State will forward comments to applicable regulatory agencies as needed. Interested persons may submit comments, obtain more detailed information about the proposed action, or request a copy of the findings by contacting:
Kathryn Peto, Grants Analyst
Charlotte County, FL
941-575-3651
Kathryn.peto@charlottecountyfl.gov
Kayla Born, State Lead Environmental Specialist
Florida Division of Emergency Management
(850)273-9289
MitigationEnvironmental@em.myflorida.com