Public can sound off on Burnet County flood debris grant
Connie Swinney/The Highlander
The pile of flood debris, just off Phillips Ranch Road in Granite Shoals could be closer to being hauled off. Burnet County will likely apply for a block grant to help pay for debris removal. The debris pile is the result of the October flood event.
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
Burnet County commissioners will hold a public hearing at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, about applying for a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant for removal of October 2018 flood debris.
Commissioners voted Tuesday, Jan. 15, to contract with Langford Community Management Services, a Leander-based firm, to administer and provide project-related management services for the county's grant application. Langford has provided grant administration services to a number of local entities, including several block grants for the City of Marble Falls.
The Jan. 22 public hearing will allow citizens the opportunity to discuss all aspects of the Texas Community Development Block Grant program, which is part of the Texas Department of Agriculture. Discussion topics include citizen participation, past CDBG fund use, eligible CDBG activities and amount of funding available.
Commissioners are expected to approve a resolution at their regular court meeting the next day — Jan. 23 — to formally apply for the block grant. Applications are due to TDA by Jan. 31 and once a resolution and contract are sent in to TDA, the county can begin working to remove debris from the central site on Phillips Ranch Road in Granite Shoals, County Services Director Karen Hardin said.
“The county can begin spending funds in advance to remove the debris and be reimbursed if we receive the grant,” Hardin said. “If we do not get the grant, there is not really any risk as we are responsible for removing the debris anyway.”
If a federal disaster is declared and the county also gets a CDBG grant, the latter can be used as matching funds for any federal relief, Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery said, which would allow the county to better leverage its funding to pay for cleanup efforts.
At this time, county officials said, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is still reviewing Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) from about 15 counties within the 111-county area that Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, declared a state disaster area. A final date for a decision has not been announced by FEMA.
