Brevard County could use federal coronavirus aid for hurricane response

VIERA, Fla. -
When Brevard County received $105 million from the federal government in May through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Space Coast was not a coronavirus hotspot. It’s still not.

County commissioners set up programs to help small businesses and residents with rent and utility payments, but it’s late July and $30 million has yet to be allocated. Commissioner John Tobia has suggested giving it back to the feds, as a fiscally responsible thing to do.

"They are asking not for your money, not for my money, but for our grandkids' money," he explained.

FOX 35 News asked Commissioner Tobia if the money could be used to modify hurricane shelters in the COVID crisis.  He said yes but emphasized that the county does not have an estimate about what such an undertaking would cost. To get a general idea, we spoke with Thomas Rebman, a homeless rights activist, who has been heavily involved in making the county homeless shelters compliant with federal guidelines.

"Any of the shelters are going to have difficulty with capacity based on the social distancing guidelines," he said.

Rebman’s garage is full of shelter supplies things like masks, gloves, sanitizing wipes. He said shelters have had to buy mass quantities of it and install screen barriers at the check-in station. Those adjustments have been expensive, he added.

"It would add 15 to 30% to the budget to their normal operating budget," said Rebman.

The county may have to open additional shelters and a second emergency operations command center, so people aren’t crammed into tight spaces. 

"It’s very costly," Rebman said. "You have to remember they’re going to need more staff, lots more cleaning supplies, disinfectants, the masks."

County leaders said it would not be prudent to make all of these changes and investments now, because we might not get a hurricane this season. So at the moment, that $30 million remains on standby.