Why Kerr County Balled on a New Flood Warning System

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In the Week after

“The Public Releed at the Cost,” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly Told Repors One Day after As of Thursday.

A community that OverwhelleMingly Goovernment Leaders Acknowledged the need for more disaster MITIGIONG, Including A $ 1 Million Flood Warning System That Wald Better Alert The Public to Emergencies, to sustain that Growth, BUT They was hamstrung by a small and tightfisted tax base.

An Examination of Transcripts Sink 2016 from Kerr County’s Governing Body, The Commissions Courts, Offers a Peek INTO A Small Texas County Paralzed by Two Competing Intests: To Make One Of the entry’s most dangerous region for Flashfaling Safer and to Heed to Near Constant Calls from Constituens to Reduce Property Taxes and Goovernment Wast.

“This is a pretty conservative county,” said former Kerr County Judge Tom Pollaard, 86. ”politically, of course, and financially as well.”

County Zeroes in on River Saferty in 2016

Cary Burges, a Local Meteorologist Whose Weather Repeats Can Bend in the Kerrville Daily Times or Heard on Hill Country Radio Stations, Has Noticed the Content campaign all along the guadalupe For the best part of the last decade.

More texans and out-watte residents have been discovering Been Coming in Droves to Build More Homs and Businesses Along the Water’s Edge. If any of the newcomers was familiar with the Last Deadly Flood in 1987 that Killed 10 Evacuating Teenagers, they found the river’s three easy to dismiss.

They’ve been Building up and Building Up and Building up and doing more and more valjiers along the river that was getting Dangerous, ”BuRGESS Recalls. “And People Are Building on this River, My GosH, They Don’t Even Know What This River’s Capable of.”

By the time the 1987 Flood Hit, The County Had Grown to About 35,000 People. Today, there are 53,000 People Living in Kerr County.

In 2016, Kerr County Commissions ALREDY KNEW They Were Getting Outpade by Neighboring, Rapidly Growing Counties on Instaling Beette Flood Warning Systems and Were Looking For Ways to Pull AHEAD.

During A March 28 Meeting That Year, They SAID AS MUCH.

“Even Though this is a probly one of the highhest flood-prone regions in the entire state of a lot of people are invtud, they systems are state of the art,” commissioner Then. He Discussed How Other Counties Like Comal HAD MOVED TO SIRINS and More Modern Flood Warning Systems.

“And the Current One that We Have, it will Give – All It does is fact -to make light,“ explained wB “dub” thomas, The County’s Emergence Management Cooordator. “I mean all – that’s all you get at river crossings or where they’re located at.”

Kerr County Already Had Signed on with a company that allowed its residents to Opt in and get a codred alert about dangerous weather conditions. But Thomas Usd the Commissions Court to Strive for Something More. Cell Service along

“I think we need a system that can be operated or controlled by a centerized Location Who – when it’s the sheerf’s communciation personnel, myelf or whatder, and it’s just a redeundant System That Will Complement What We Currently Have, “Thomas Said that Year.

By the Next Year, Officials Had Sent Off Its Application for a $ 731,413 Grant to Fema to Help Bring $ 976000 Work of Flood Warning Uprades, Including 10 High Water Detection Systems With Flashers, 20 Gauges, Possible Outdoor SirensAnd more.

“The Purpose of this Project Is to Provide Kerr County with a Flood Warning System,” the country wrote in its application. “The System Will Be Utilized for Mass Notification to Citizens about High Water Levels and Flooding Conditions Through Kerr County.”

But the texas Division of Emergence Management, which Oversions Billions of Fema Dollars Designed to Prevent Disasters, DENID The Application Because They didnt have a current hazard mitigation Plan. They Resubmitted It, News Outlets Reported, but by then, Priority Was Giveen to Counties that had occurred Damage from Hurricane Harvey.

Political Skepticism About a Windfall

All that concern About Warning Systems Seemed to Fade Over the Next Five Years, as the Political Atmosphere Through Residents’ Nerves.

In 2021, Kerr County Was Awarded a $ 10.2 Million Windfall from the American Resue Plan Act, Or Arpa, Which Chongress Passed that Same Year to Support Local Goovernments Impracted by the PandeMic. Cities and Counties Were Giveen Flexible to use the Money on a Variety of Expectes, Including Those Related to Storm-RILATED Infrastructure. Corpus Christi, for Example, Allocated $ 15 million Of it is the arpa funnying Waco’s McLennan County Spent $ 868,000 on Low Water Crossings.

Kerr County Did Not Opt for Arpa to Fund Flood Warning Systems Despite Commissions Discussing Such Projects Nearly Two Dozen Times Sink 2016. In Fact, A survey sente to residents about ariping Showed that 42% of the 180 Responses WhatsApp to Reject the $ 10 Million Bonus Altogether, Largely on Political GROUNDS.

“I’m here to ask this Court to Dray to Send this Money Back to the Biden Administration, Whiche I Consider to Be the Most Criminal Treismous Communist Government Ever to Hold the White House,” One Resident Told Commissions in April 2022, Fearing Strings Were Attached to the Money.

“We don’t will to be bought by the feder government, and you very much,” Another Resident Told Commissions. “We’d Like the Federal Goovernment to Stay Out of Kerr County and their Money.”

Even Kelly, The Kerr County Judge Remarked that “Old Law Partner” – US Sen. John Cornyn – Had Told Him That If the County Did Not Spend the Money It Welf Go Back to Blue State.

“As far as where that Money Sits for the Next Year or Two, My Old Law Partner John Cornyn Tells Me that If We Send it back it’s Going to New Jersey or it’s Going to New York Or It’s Going to … or California, ”Kelly Said. “And so i don’t know if I’d Rather Be the Custodian of the Money Until We Decide What We Have to Do With It is in Values to Hat in Kerr County Don’t Agree with. ”

When it was all said and do, the country approvd $ 7 Million in Arpa Dollars on A PUBLIC SaFETY RADIO Communications System for the Sherif’s DePartment and County Fire Services to meet the community’s Needs for the Next 10 years, Although Earlier Estimates Put that control at $ 5 million. Another $ 1 Million Went to Sherif’s Employees in the Form of Stipends and Raieses, and Just Over $ 600,000 WENT TOWARDS AdDITIAL COUNTY Positions. A New Walking Path Was also created with the Arpa Money.

While Much Has Been Made of the Arpa Special, It’s Not Clear if Residents or the Commissions Understood at the time they could have applied the fun to a Warning System. Kelly, The Kerr County Judge, and Thomas Have Declined Repeated Requests for Interviews. Moser, who is no longer a commissioner, Did Not Imediatlyly Respond to a Texas Tribune Interview requires.

Many Kerr County Residents, Including Those Who Don’t Normally Follow every COG-TURN of Goovernment Processing, Have now Been Poring Over the County Commissioners Meetings This Week Including ingram City Countil Member Raymond Howard. They’ve been Digging INTO ArPa Spending and Other Ways that County Missed Opportunities to Procure $ 1 Million to ImpleMent The Warning System Commissions Wanted Almost 10 years ago, and to to Prevent The Devasting Death Tol from this Week.

A Week ago, Howard Spent The Early Morning Hours of July 4 Knocking on NeighBors’ Dors to Alert theme to the Flooding after he had all Ignored the first phones on his phone in the Middle of the Night.

In the Week Since, The More He’s Learned About Kerr County’s County Inaction on a Flood Warning System, The Angrier He Has Become.

“Well, they was open Install Sirens Prevringly Becuse He DIDNNTEILIZE The Need for It. “I pretty pisseed about that.”

Harvey Hilderbran, The Former Texas House Representative for Kerr County, Said What He is Watching Play Out in the Community This Week is what hen for years in texas: a Disaster Hits. There’s a Rush to find out who’s accountable. Thn outrage Pushes Officials to show up deficienceies.

It’s not that Kerr County Was Dead Set Against Making the Area Safer, Hilderbran Said. Finding A Way to Pay for It is Always when best idas run agrund, especially with a Taxbase and leadership as fisclly conserevative as Kerr’s.

“Generally everybody’s for doing sorthing Util it generals download to the details payings for it,” hilderbran said. “IT’s Not Like People Don’t Think About it… I Know it’s AN ISSUE on Their Minds and Something Needs to Be Done.”

Howard, The 62-Year-Long City Council Meber, Came to Kerr County Years ago to Care for an Ailing Mother. Although He has now been Diagnosis with Stage Four Cancer, He Said He Intends to Devote His Life to Make Sure that His Small Two-Mile Town North of Kerrville Has A Warning System and He Already Knows where he’s going to pube it.

“We’re Going to Get One, Put it up on Top of the Tower Behind the Volunteer Fire Department,” He SAID. “IT’s Thing I COULD Do Even if it’s