The Austin City Council passed resolutions approving federal flood mitigation grant agreements for $2.5 million and $122,400 at Monday night's meeting at City Hall.

The grant for $2.5 million requires that it be used for the acquisition and demolition of homes in the flood plain and does not require the city to match any funds, said Public Works Director Jon Erichson.

The $122,400 grant will be used to pay off damaged homes in order to avoid paying any future claims on those homes. This grant requires the city to pay 25 percent, which comes to $30,600, he said.

That money, along with state and local funds, brings the total amount of money devoted to flood management to about $4.6 million.

Erichson later presented a plaque to Mayor Bonnie Rietz from the Flood Insurance Program, congratulating her and Zoning Administrator Craig Hoium for the work they have done to bring this money into Austin. The Flood Insurance Program has given Austin a rating of five on a 10-point scale. The lower the rating, the lower the flood insurance rates.

"Austin is a leader in flood prevention programs," Erichson said. "Since Craig has taken over the program, we have continued to drop to that number five."

In other council business, resolutions passed on three street improvement assessments -- Seventh Street NW, Eighth Avenue SW and Eighth Street NW.

The resolution on the assessment for 14th Street NE was adjourned due to a written objection from Lot 2, Block 3 of the Austin Industrial Park NE.

The resolution designating the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) as a Local Development Organization also passed. This designation removes restrictions on certain federal funds.

"This puts into HRA hands [funds] as a Local Development Organization," said City Administrator Pat McGarvey. "Once it's in the treasury, it is available for other development uses in Austin."

At the close of the meeting, Council Member At-Large Wayne Goodnature and Rietz both encouraged community involvement in the process of figuring the new budget. At tonight's work session, the council will be dealing with budget issues. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.

"That will probably be the first session where we get more specific about the types of cuts in relation to the city budget," Goodnature said. "Everyone really needs to engage us in this."

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at newsroom@austindailyherald.com