Announcements

Texas Community Development Block Grant Regional Project Priority Survey, Public Meeting  

H-GAC in conjunction with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is beginning the planning process for the 2027 Community Development (CD) application cycle.

The TDA administers the non-entitlement portion of the Texas Community Development Block Grant (TxCDBG) Program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Community Development Fund is the largest TxCDBG funding category and is awarded through a competitive application process in each of the state’s 24 planning regions.

The next funding cycle is anticipated to be released in Fall 2026 for funding as early as Fall 2027. For more information, please visit texasagriculture.gov.

Although most funds are used for Public Facilities (water/wastewater infrastructure, street and drainage improvements and housing activities), there are numerous other activities for which these funds may be used. 

As part of this process, H-GAC is seeking input on the establishment of regional project priorities. Please review and rate the PROJECT PRIORITIES on a survey.

The survey closes at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 5.. 

Survey results will be discussed in a public meeting at 2 p.m. July 9, at H-GAC and on Zoom and will be considered for approval by the H-GAC Board of Directors in July. Once approved, H-GAC will share the regional priorities with the Texas Department of Agriculture. 

For questions, please contact Ellary Makuch.

2026 Basin Highlights Report Now Available Online  

The Basin Highlights Report - Characterization of the Brays Bayou and Sims Bayou Watersheds is now available online. 

Each year, the H-GAC Clean Rivers Program produces a report outlining the state of water quality in the region. The Basin Highlights Reports include the status and trends of water quality and a brief overview of the previous year's activities. Every five years, H-GAC's Clean Rivers Program produces a Basin Summary Report which provides a more detailed analysis of the region's water quality.

Area Agency on Aging Offers Free Benefits Counseling  

H-GAC's Area Agency on Aging program offers Benefits Counseling Days each month across the region. During these free, in-person events, attendees can meet with a Certified Benefits Counselor to discuss Medicare, Medicaid, and Advance Directives and receive personalized guidance.

Assistance is available to anyone eligible for Medicare, regardless of age, and their caregivers.

Dates and locations are listed online.

Bacteria Implementation Group (BIG) Annual Meeting – June 2 (Hybrid)    

The Bacteria Implementation Group (BIG) Spring meeting will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 2. 

Topics will include the 2025 Annual Report, Onsite Sewage Facility Repair and Replacement, and the East Aldine Management District Project. 

Registration is required to attend online and requested to attend in person.

For more information, to be added to the contact list, or to submit public comment, contact Steven Johnston.

Clean Rivers Program Regional Monitoring Workgroup Meeting – June 9 (Online)  

H-GAC's Clean Rivers Program Regional Monitoring Workgroup meeting will be 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, June 9, on Microsoft Teams. Anyone interested in attending the meeting can contact Jenny Oakley for information. 

More information about the Clean Rivers Program is available online.   

Area Agency on Aging Roadshows – June 11, July 21 (In Person) 

H-GAC will host two events this summer to share information about aging services available across the region. The Area Agency on Aging Community Roadshows offer community members the opportunity to learn more about services available to older adults and caregivers. 

Liberty County - 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, June 11 

Dayton Community Center 

801 S. Cleveland St  

Dayton, TX 77535 

Montgomery County - 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, July 21 

Kevin Brady Community Center 

2250 Buckthorne Place 

The Woodlands, TX 77380 

Additional roadshows are planned for the fall.

Learn more about the H-GAC Area Agency on Aging programs online.   

Annual Debris Management Training – June 18, August 19 (Online)

Join H-GAC for two free debris management strategies trainings this summer. Choose to attend one or both webinars.

Assessing Damage and Estimating Debris Quantities will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, June 18, on Zoom.

Topics include:

• Maintaining preparedness
• Changes in federal guidance
• Conducting debris quantities and costs
• Using GIS and AI in disaster debris management

This webinar has been submitted for Continuing Education Credits (CECs) from the Texas Floodplain Management Association.

Registration is required to attend the June 18 webinar.

Successfully Navigating the Public Assistance Program will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, August 19, on Zoom.

Topics include:

• Force account tracking
• Navigating the public assistance process
• Acquiring public assistance
• Procurement compliance
• Best practices for efficient and compliant cost recovery

Registration is required to attend the August 19 webinar.

For more information, contact Erin Livingston.

Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable – July 13 (In Person)

Save the date for the next Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable, tentatively set for 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, July 13, at H-GAC. More information, including topics and registration, will be available online.

Of note, July is Park and Recreation Month and July 17 is Park and Recreation Professionals Day.

For more information, contact Andrea Tantillo.

Livable Centers Roundtable, Workshop Series Continues – July 23, September 17 (In Person)

H-GAC continues its three-part Livable Centers Roundtable and Workshop Series exploring how communities can become more vibrant and flexible through adaptive reuse, regulatory innovation, and human-centered design.

Attendees will examine strategies for transforming underutilized spaces into active community assets. We will work together to find ways to move beyond traditional single-use zoning and create frameworks that support mixed-use vitality and long-term adaptability. 

This series will equip planners, civic leaders, developers, designers, and community advocates with practical tools and forward-thinking approaches to shape places that grow organically. Participants can attend one, two, or all three events.  

Upcoming events in the series include:

• Roundtable 2: Collaborate to Innovate, 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, July 23. Roundtable 1 on April 23 highlighted the often-present tension between community-driven desires and developer-driven choices. Roundtable 2 will kick off with a presentation that highlights several adaptive reuse projects from the region and elsewhere that have successfully navigated the necessary trade-offs to create a win-win project. Participants will then work in groups to think through real-world adaptive reuse scenarios, carefully balancing the interests of both the community and the developer to design a project that works for all. Registration is requested.
  
• Annual Land Use/Transportation Workshop: Expert Takes on What’s at Stake, 9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, September 17. Hear from a panel of experts about the practices they’ve implemented to support long-term adaptability. Registration is requested.

All events will be held at H-GAC second floor conference rooms. Participant networking is from 9 to 9:30 a.m. for each event. Program activities will begin at 9:30 a.m. each day.

For more information, contact [email protected].

H-GAC Film Conference in Galveston – July 22-24 (In Person)    

Early registration is now open for Lights, Camera, Action! H-GAC's first film conference on July 22-24 in Galveston. Whether your community is interested in attracting film productions or becoming Film Friendly Texas (FFTX) certified, this conference will give you the tools, insights, and connections to get started.

Highlights include sessions on permitting protocols, discovering your community's unique qualities, hosting film crews, creative local initiatives, content creation, and budgeting. Attendees can also learn about FFTX certification and other Texas Film Commission programs.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. More details about the conference, including full agenda topics, will be available soon.

For more information, contact Anna (Shadle) Marlow.

Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable – July 28 (Online)

The next Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable will be 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, July 28, on Zoom.

Registration is required.

The topic will be housing in rural and small town downtowns, including attracting developers and downtown housing success stories.

Speakers include:

• Jeri Mintzer, Assistant Vice President for Economic Development, Smart Growth America
• Kevin Shepherd, PE, Founder/CEO Verdunity
• Justin Weiss, MPA, ICMA-CM, East Texas A&M University and City of Fate

The Bringing Back Main Street initiative offers local communities a place to share best practices and engage in a regional dialogue about revitalizing and supporting vibrant downtown spaces. Each quarter, community leaders gather for a roundtable on topics ranging from small business support to sidewalk infrastructure. 

For more information, contact Andrea Tantillo. 

Green Infrastructure Workshop – June 11

The Texas AgriLife Green Infrastructure for Texas (GIFT) program will host a Green Infrastructure workshop from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, June 11, at the Thomas R. LeRoy Education Building, 9020 Airport Road, Conroe.

This free, half-day workshop will cover green infrastructure at every scale — from site-level practices like rain gardens, pervious pavement, and rainwater harvesting, to mid-scale solutions such as vegetated swales, stormwater wetlands, and retrofitted basins that manage flooding while creating habitat and community recreation opportunities. At the largest scale, sessions will explore preserving and restoring prairies, wetlands, and natural corridors that deliver ecosystem services no smaller project can replicate.

The workshop is designed for local elected officials, municipal and county staff, institutional landowners, facilities managers, and anyone involved in community planning, development, or environmental management.

Seating is limited, and registration is required.

Riparian, Stream Ecosystem Workshop – July 1

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Riparian Association, the Disaster Assessment and Recovery Mitigation Unit, Galveston Bay of Coalition of Watersheds, and the Texas Water Resources Institute will host one-day workshop from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, at the Galveston County Extension Office, 4102-B Main Street (Carbide Park), La Marque. 

This free, in-person Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Restoration workshop will include both indoor classroom and outdoor presentations by multiple natural resource agency experts and an outdoor field portion on Marchand Bayou to discover the function and the role of riparian vegetation in properly functioning systems and the benefits and direct impacts from healthy riparian systems.

Participants will better understand and relate to riparian and watershed processes, the benefits that healthy riparian areas provide, and the tools that can be employed to prevent and/or resolve degradation and improve water quality. 

Lunch will be available to participants for $15. Lunch can be paid for in advance by credit card or in cash on-site the day of the event. Participants may also choose to bring their own lunch. Dress is casual and comfortable for the weather as participants will be outside along Marchand Bayou during the afternoon.

RSVP is required by June 24. Registration, agenda, flyer, and Continuing Education Units list are available online. For more information, contact Alexander Neal at 979-314-2351 or [email protected].

Federal Fiscal Year 2027 Clean Water Act Section 319(h) Grant Now Open

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Nonpoint Source Program grant cycle opened on May 14. TCEQ and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) administer a federal grant for activities that prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution. The grant is made available through a federal program authorized under Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act. Funds are appropriated by Congress.

The grant will reimburse 60% of the cost of selected projects; applicants provide the other 40% of the cost as match, which may include in-kind services by volunteers or partner organizations.

Applications are due by 3 p.m. June 29, 2026.

For more information, visit tceq.texas.gov.

Friendswood Honored with Keep Texas Beautiful Award

Congratulations to Friendswood for being recognized as one of 10 Keep Texas Beautiful Governor’s Community Achievement Awards winners. Now in its 59th year, the program is presented through Keep Texas Beautiful’s long-standing partnership with Texas Department of Transportation. Each winning community will partner with TxDOT on a landscape project that enhances beauty, safety, and community identity along a state right-of-way.

Houston MODroot Urban Tree Challenge Now Open

Houston-area projects are invited to apply for the MODroot Urban Tree Challenge. Greenrise is donating a MODroot soil cell system to one buildable Houston-area project. The selected project receives up to 4,000 cubic feet of MODroot standard system components and design support from the Greenrise team. The deadline is Monday, June 15. The winner will be announced Wednesday, July 1.

Learn more and submit your project online

Funding Sources

H-GAC's Community and Environmental Planning Department maintains a list of ongoing funding opportunities for parks improvements, conservation projects, active transportation projects, and downtown revitalization projects. H-GAC also provides a Funding Resources Hub with the Funding Development Program and a listing of many funding opportunities for individuals, local governments, organizations, and others.

If you know of a funding opportunity, forward it to Andrea Tantillo.

All content, including links to websites on these funding lists, is for informational purposes only. Users of this content are responsible for checking its accuracy, currency, and suitability.

Mapping Applications

Looking for interactive applications or GIS data related to the H-GAC Community and Environmental Planning Department? Visit H-GAC's interactive applications web page.

Houston-Galveston Area Council

713-627-3200

www.h-gac.com

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