Bastrop County gets more wilfire recovery help
Bastrop County gets more wildfire recovery help
16 April 2013
published by www.statesman.com
USA — American-Statesman Staff
The Texas governors office awarded Bastrop County a $1.6 million short-term grant, money that officials will use to secure additional funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for wildfire recovery projects.
This money gives us the the green light to continue with FEMA-related projects such as getting rid of a lot of the growth under pines and oaks that helped fuel the 2011 wildfires, said Mike Fisher, the countys emergency management coordinator. That project to mitigate about 4,000 acres will cost $4 million. FEMAs share is $3 million, and our $1 million match will come from this new grant.
Fisher said the rest of the money will be used for road repairs, replanting grass and wildflowers and removing burned trees and debris.
In a disaster, FEMA pays for 75 percent of recovery costs while the local entity must contribute the other 25 percent. Bastrop county officials say they have run out of money to meet the local match. The county also faces an early May deadline to come up with money to continue other FEMA-related projects. Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape wrote Gov. Rick Perry a letter earlier this year asking for help.
In making the announcement on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry said in a press release that the $1.6 million grant announced Tuesday will come from state funds appropriated for disaster relief.
State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who represents Bastrop, said the county will repay the money.
The legislature is expected to provide at least $4.4 million for Bastrop recovery efforts through this years supplemental appropriations bill, but its not clear that the money will be available in time to meet the federal deadline, he said in a press release.
The financial picture for Bastrop has improved lately.
Bastrop County received about $1.7 million in disaster relief money from the federal government two weeks ago to reimburse agencies that fought the fires; county officials say about $1.2 million will go to local and volunteer fire departments in the cities of Bastrop, Smithville and Austin and the Bastrop and Smithville school districts.
The county is also waiting for federal approval to shift about $9 million in federal money to erosion control and road projects. The money was initially set aside to help wildfire survivors rebuild houses, but only 35 of 210 families qualified for a housing program set aside to rebuild as many as 150 houses for people who were uninsured or underinsured.
