Monday, April 29, 2024
Coryell County is in the mix for several grants, and the Coryell County Commissioners Court recently got an update on the process.
Steve Manning and Maddie Todd with Natural Resources Solutions, a consulting firm helping the county with data collection and the grant application process, told county officials about the status of multiple grants during the Feb. 14 meeting of the commissioners court.
Todd said that much of the work on the county's hazard mitigation plan is expected to be complete by April 13.
"It's 65% done," she said. "We'll go over survey results and look at mitigation actions, and we've been in contact with TDEM (the Texas Department of Emergency Management)."
NRS and the county held meetings in Gatesville, Evant, Oglesby and Copperas Cove to get feedback from area residents about their concerns regarding potential natural disasters, such as floods, fire, drought and extreme weather conditions.
"One question that arose is what if a city borders another county," Todd said.
Evant and Copperas Cove are located in both Coryell and adjacent counties, but Todd said for the purposes of the hazard mitigation plant, both communities will fit entirely within the Coryell County footprint.
"We had a really great turnout (at the public meetings)," Todd said. "As of Feb. 1, there were 1,600 views on the (hazard mitigation) website and 4,100 Facebook views."
The survey allowing local residents to communicate their concerns, and rank which natural disasters they perceive to be the greatest threats, has closed.
"There were 367 total responses, and we're doing a final public survey analysis," Todd said. She added that the highest number of responses were from the 76528 (Gatesville) ZIP code.
"Drought was the biggest concern, and dam failure was the lowest," she said.
Manning, the president of NRS, said he was pleased with the public's feedback.
"It was a good response," he said. "You compare it to the broadband survey, which was open for two months, and this got a bigger response.
"Smaller communities really showed up (to voice input). There was good turnout for Oglesby and Evant. Jonesboro gave almost as many responses as (Copperas) Cove. All the ZIP codes (in Coryell County) were represented, so we feel we can get a really good understanding of people's concerns. While drought was the biggest concern, if you looked at it in 2016 it would probably be floods."
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In its SS4A (Safe Streets For All) grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Coryell County was a co-applicant with the Central Texas Council of Governments (CTCOG) and the Killeen Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization. However, when it comes to funding, the county will have a direct line for grant opportunities to improve transportation safety and to reduce roadway fatalities and injuries.
A total of $1.8 million was granted to counties within the CTCOG footprint, and $358,000 of this is directed toward Coryell County.
Manning noted that only Harris County (the Houston area) and Travis County (the Austin area) had transportation department grant awards higher in Texas than the one Coryell County is part of.
"We want to highlight a couple of things," said County Judge Roger Miller. "Harris County and Travis County were the only areas in Texas that had higher awards. That's a big deal — it's a really big deal. Once we have a plan, the county is eligible for up to $30 million to implement an action plan."
The county is also awaiting a response from the U.S. Forest Service on its wildfire protection plan, which will result in an additional $246,000 in federal funding to help protect people, animals and property from the ravages of wildfires.
Coryell County is looking to address building codes and subdivision regulation issues, and is working with the Middle Trinity Groundwater Conservation District to determine ways to help protect local water resources.
"The county is experiencing pretty strong growth, and this will address what you can do in your codes to manage it," Manning said.
