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Governor expands eligibility for funding for lakeshore resiliency projects

Communities along the southern shore of Lake Ontario have seen two extreme flooding events in three years.
Veronica Volk
/
WXXI News
Communities along the southern shore of Lake Ontario have seen two extreme flooding events in three years.
Communities along the southern shore of Lake Ontario have seen two extreme flooding events in three years.
Credit Veronica Volk / WXXI News
/
WXXI News
Communities along the southern shore of Lake Ontario have seen two extreme flooding events in three years.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced some changes this week to his plan to build back the southern shore of Lake Ontario.

The state's Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative -- or REDI -- Commission has been meeting with people from municipalities all along the shoreline.

The state is putting aside $300 million to fund resiliency projects in these communities, which have seen major flooding in recent years.

"Common sense and prudence dictates that we do expect flooding in the future," the governor said Wednesday on WXXI's "Connections with Evan Dawson" talk show. "Rather than doing intermediate repairs, let’s make the shoreline more resilient. Let's improve the shoreline anticipating high water levels in the future so we don’t go through this every couple of years."

The governor announced that some of that money would be available to private businesses, like marinas, and owners of second homes.

"I don’t think they should move," he said. "I think they should anticipate a repeat of the higher water level and prepare for it."

The governor also reduced the amount of money that municipalities would need to match in grants, in order to potentially fund more projects in smaller communities.

Copyright 2019 WXXI News

Veronica Volk is a Reporter/Producer for WXXI News. She comes from WFUV Public Radio, where she began her broadcasting career as a reporter covering the Bronx, and the greater New York City area. She later became the Senior Producer of WFUV’s weekly public affairs show, Cityscape. Originally from Ocean County, New Jersey, Veronica got her B.A. in Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, concentrating on Media, Culture, and Society.