FEMA delay on Dry Creek stirs impatience

BURNET — A long wait for federal officials to approve a critical flood mitigation project is testing the patience of a Burnet County commissioner. 

In fact, county officials have waited nearly one year for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to complete its analysis of the Highland Haven Dry Creek Crossing Culvert Improvement Project. 

“This is getting ridiculous,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve said during the commission’s regular Tuesday meeting.

Building costs may go up and traffic congestion may become a problem near Dry Creek during the delay on the project, Neve warned fellow commissioners several weeks ago. 

Meanwhile, the State Office of Rural Community Affairs has set aside more than $350,000 for the job, the most expensive work remaining to begin since the June 2007 flood. 

Early last month, County Environmental Services and Floodplain Director Herb Darling said FEMA might approve the project within “a week to 10 days.” 

However, since then, FEMA has yet to send any word regarding its review of the project, despite repeated inquiries from The Governor’s Division of Emergency Management, Darling told the commissioners Tuesday. 

Perhaps government officials higher than the emergency management office could help the county expedite the project, Neve said. 

“I want to go a different route — from the top down,” Neve said. 

Darling told Neve he would send a letter to the office of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, asking for the senator’s assistance with the project. 

Also during the meeting Tuesday, County Judge Donna Klaeger said she will ask the Capital Area Regional Transportation Planning Organization to release more than $36 million in federal funds to rebuild the U.S. 281 bridge over Lake Marble Falls and renovate a stretch of that highway between Delaware Springs Boulevard and Park Road 4. 

“We will make a bid for it Friday morning,” Klaeger said, referring to the CARTPO session set for 9:30 a.m. at the Capital Area Council of Governments headquarters in Austin.

Both the Marble Falls bridge and 281 projects meet “all of the criteria needed” for funding consideration, Klaeger added. 

Funds for both projects and perhaps other infrastructure repairs on the county’s wish list would come from an economic stimulus package Congress and the president could approve by February, officials have said. 

In other business Tuesday, Neve praised the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District board for their willingness to listen to the community. 

“It looks to me like they are going to slow down and take a good hard look at their (proposed) rules,” Neve said. 

Earlier this week, the board established a committee to study new models of the county’s future groundwater needs. 

Previously, Neve has criticized the board for proposing what he termed “heavy-handed” rules that may require permits or meters for existing or new domestic wells, mostly depending on the number of gallons of water pumped per minute. 

Turning to other matters, construction of the new jail near the Ellen Halbert Unit for Women is “looking good,” Neve said. 

“It has a roof, and they have started painting,” Neve added. 

Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery confirmed everything remains on schedule for contractors to complete construction of the private-public jail early next year. 

As expected, the commissioners renewed the burn ban they have imposed on the unincorporated areas of the county since last June. 

“It is very dry,” Darling said. “It is West Texas dry. Conditions are terrible. We are in a considerable drought. It’s kind of scary.” 

The average Keetch-Byram Drought Index for the county is 618 with a high of 749, Darling added. 

KBDI measures the potential for forest fires based on daily water balance, and the highest index of 800 indicates extremely dry conditions. 

Exceptions to the ban include burning of prickly pear for livestock consumption; burning of household garbage in a covered container; and fires for cooking, ceremony or warmth. 

All persons conducting burns must carry a cell phone and water source at the burn site; burning can occur only during optimum conditions; and all outdoor fires must be contained in a fire ring or container or cooking device and monitored until completely extinguished, according to the renewed ban order in effect through the next 90 days.

Any violation of the ban is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, officials have said. 

If necessary, the commissioners can order “no outdoor flames whatsoever” and declare a ban on burning “anything that produces an outside fire” with no exceptions, Darling pointed out. 

Whether to prohibit the sale and use of fireworks during the upcoming New Year’s Eve celebrations will be discussed during the Dec. 9 meeting, Klaeger said.

raymond@thepicayune.com

Photo by Raymond V. Whelan