Kendall County will have help paying for the massive cleanup effort that awaits in the wake of the Guadalupe River flooding earlier this month.
While search crews continue to comb the river for three people still reported missing, the Kendall County Commissioners Court Tuesday left intact a burn ban on debris created by the massive flooding.
Brady Constantine, county fire marshal and director of the Kendall County Office of Emergency Management, told commissioners at their Tuesday meeting that the county is in line for debris management funding from the state.
“The news we received was that the state has approved Kendall County for debris management. They are working through their logistics on how that is going to transpire right now,” Constantine told commissioners.
County Judge Shane Stolarczyk said the state emphasized that the burn ban is a critical aspect in order to receive the relief Constantine described.
“I think we’re the first county along the Guadalupe where the state has agreed to foot the bill for cleanup,” he said.
“(The state) footing the bill on cleanup is a big win for this county. Sometimes those (costs) can bankrupt a county. The amount of revenue you have to dedicate to this is insurmountable for some counties,” Stolarczyk said.
Debris remains piled high, in some places as high as 30 feet, along the 30-plus miles of the river through Kendall County. As searchers sift through the tons and tons of mud, trees and debris, the county will stick with the burn ban that’s been in place since the river searches began.
Constantine said a team of fire marshals from across the state will come to assist the county, bringing teams of canines to help the effort.
“I don’t have all the logistics of that yet, but I can tell you they have asked that we keep the burn ban on,” he said.
County Judge Shane Stolarczyk said the state emphasized the burn ban is a critical aspect in order to receive the relief Constantine described.
“I think we’re the first county along the Guadalupe where the state has agreed to foot the bill for cleanup,” he said.
“(The state) footing the bill on cleanup is a big win for this county. Sometimes those (costs) can bankrupt a county. The amount of revenue you have to dedicate to this is insurmountable for some counties,” Stolarczyk said.
While Constantine said he does not have specifics on how the state aid and relief will work, he said it will apply to public and private land along the river — meaning the state funding will cover cleanup for landowners whose riverfront properties are buried in masses of twisted tree trunks, metal and mud.
“They are stressing patience because there’s a lot of logistics going on with us,” the judge said. “As we know more, we’ll share it with you. But for now, know there’s a plan that will impact everybody in a beneficial way.”
The county selected two locations to be deposit sites where state contractors can dump all the debris, pending site approval by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
“We have been proactive on this and staying on top of it, and our efforts have been rewarded by the state," Stolarczyk added
While the county will have no charge in selecting firms to perform the cleanup, commissioners are urging local contractors to be alert to the issuing of RFQs and the bidding process.
“We want to make sure that however this comes down the pike, that our local contractors, our local business people, have the opportunity to get funding, to use their equipment, and their contracting services to clean this up,” County Precinct 2 Commissioner Andra Wisian said.
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