City Council approved the use of the remaining $175,000 of an $800,000 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) grant for flood mitigation Tuesday night.

The remaining funds were initially going to be used for structural measures on North Main, but the measures were not eligible using federal or state dollars, and the grant is scheduled to expire prior to work being completed. The council instead approved the funds to be used to acquire repetitive loss flood parcels.

Five parcels have been identified throughout Austin for acquisition through the city’s flood grant buyout program; however, the number of parcels acquired will be limited based on the budget.

The remainder of the DEED grant expires on Dec. 31, 2010, making it necessary that the funds be used before the end of the year or the money will be lost completely.