By Eric Curl
April 7, 205 Update: The city issued the following statement in response to a request for comment regarding this matter on Monday:
“City of Savannah staff received an official advisory on April 4 indicated the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) intent to cancel previously appropriated funding for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Program. This includes $30 million awarded to the City in 2023 to address improvements to the Springfield Canal. The BRIC Grant was allocated in phases. The City is currently in Phase 1 Design/Surveying and has been obligated $2,878,405 with a local match of $1,079,420. The total cost for Springfield Canal improvements is estimated at $42 million.
Staff is reviewing the implications of this notice and have arranged meetings with Congressman Carter, Senator Warnock, and Senator Ossoff to update them on the grant status, share the impacts related to FEMA’s decision, and the community benefits of this project. The City will continue to work with our federal partners to protect this important and necessary infrastructure investment. “
April 6, 2025 (original story) – The city of Savannah’s plans to address flooding in the Historic Carver Village and Cloverdale neighborhoods could lose some significant funding support following the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) recent termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program.
In January, the Savannah City Council approved a contract with EMC Engineering Services, Inc., valued at up to almost $4.9 million for engineering services related to the Springfield Canal project. The project aims to widen approximately 9,000 linear feet of the canal from the U.S. 17 on-ramp to the Musgrove Canal at Bowles C. Ford Park, enhancing its capacity to manage 100-year storm events. The project also included drainage improvements within the Carver Village and Cloverdale neighborhoods. Funding for the initiative was mostly supposed to come from a FEMA BRIC grant, which was to cover 75% of the costs, according to city officials.
However, FEMA announced on Friday that BRIC program would be terminated, citing concerns over waste and inefficiency. The agency stated that all BRIC applications from fiscal years 2020 to 2023 have been canceled, with undisbursed funds to be returned to the U.S. Treasury or the Disaster Relief Fund. This decision places the future of Savannah’s Springfield Canal project in uncertainty, since the anticipated federal funding may no longer be available.
The announcement came after the city received $2.7 million for phase one to cover surveying and engineering costs, according to a December 2023 press release. After review of phase one deliverables, FEMA was to release another $27.3 million for construction. That appears questionable now. This is a developing story and will be updated when additional information is obtained.
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