KERR COUNTY, Texas – Kerr County Commissioners held a meeting on Monday morning to discuss several topics, including the implementation of an outdoor flood warning system.
Kerr County suffered extensive damage following deadly July 4 flooding, with some communities still facing challenges more than six months later.
The commissioners considered four related items from the UGRA, and all were unanimously approved during the meeting.
This included entering into an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA), which would be the next step to creating a permanent flood warning siren system in the county.
Tara Bushnoe, general manager of UGRA, said this is considered a broad-scope agreement, meaning it does not specify exactly which projects will be taken on.
Instead, Bushnoe described it as a “mechanism to receive funds” and a way to keep moving forward with the flood warning system, though the agreement does not specifically name the system.
Bushnoe said UGRA would also consider this ILA in its own meeting on Friday at 3 p.m.
Former Kerr County Commissioner Tom Moser, now a key part of UGRA, praised the commissioners’ approval of the ILA.
“It’s the next right step,” he said.
UGRA next asked commissioners to consider a project agreement that identified the specific work the organization would take on. In this case, Bushnoe said this was the flood warning system.
Bushnoe said more project agreements would likely need to be approved in the future, as more projects were added to UGRA.
Kerr County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to enter into a grant agreement with the Texas Water Board, a move necessary to allow the $1.25 million in funding for the flood warning system to be dispersed, Bushnoe said.
UGRA would need to go back to the Texas Water Board for approval once additional funds were identified, she said.
The commissioners estimated the final costs would be around $5 million and said they were confident they would receive the funds needed from the board.
The final item approved with UGRA involved ratifying a request for proposal (RFP) for grant program management services, which includes the flood warning system and future projects.
Bushnoe said an initial RFP had been drawn up, but needed another approval by Kerr County commissioners after some amendments.
UGRA also plans to review the RFP in its meeting on Friday, Bushnoe said.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly praised UGRA after the approval was complete, saying, “Each item builds off the other. This is a belt and suspenders approach,” he said.
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