City Looks at Drainage Work

The City of La Grange will apply for $10.8 million in federal hazard mitigation funds for drainage improvements around town. The funds are part of a $4.3 billion allocation that the federal government gave to Texas in response to Hurricane Harvey.

If awarded, the funds would be used to build new stormwater lines along Franklin Street, Brown Street and Main Street east of Jackson Street.

“It will take care of some long-term problems,” said La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn at a City Council meeting Monday.

La Grange will provide one percent of the cost, which amounts to about $225,000. The Council previously appropriated those funds in the proposed budget for next year.

La Grange will compete against communities around the state for those funds. Award criteria for the grant funds favor projects in low to medium income areas. Accordingly, Raborn said he and City staff selected projects in census tracts designated as low to medium income, which will give the application a high score.

The City also approved several other items related to the grant at Monday’s meeting: a citizen’s participate plan, updated procurement policies and an update to the City’s hazard mitigation plan. All of those items were designed to improve the rank of the grant application, Raborn said.

“It’s all about the points game,” Raborn said. “They give you the rules. I think we’re smart enough to say, ‘If you tell me how to play the game, I’ll beat your game.’”

Councilman Ken Taylor raised a concern about finding contractors to complete the projects.

“Lets say we get all this money, and I hope we do, how in the world are we going to find enough contractors to do the work in a timely manner?” Taylor asked. “There’s going to be a lot of people looking for the same work.”

Communities across Texas who get a share of the $4.3 billion in federal hazard mitigation aid will all compete for contractors to perform similar projects related to drainage and flood prevention.

“We’re all going to run into that,” Raborn said. “When the state dumps in $4 billion in construction money for similarly situated projects – water, wastewater and drainage – only x number of contractors are going to do it. I don’t have an answer.”

“We’re going to get all this money and we’ll not be able to spend it,” Taylor predicted.

Raborn said grant awards would be announced before the end of the year. He anticipated the bidding and contract process to finish in February. Awardees will have six years to complete the projects or else they would lose the money.

In other business, Council granted final approval to the proposed property tax rate for next year, $0.2093 per $100 of taxable property. That’s the same as the current tax rate. Council conducted a public hearing on the proposed rate during the meeting, but no one from the public spoke.

Council also approved $26,500 in social services funding for next year. Listed below are the allocations that Council approved:

• $6,000 for Capital Area Rural Transportation (CARTS)

• $5,500 for the Family Crisis Center

• $7,000 for Combined Community Action (includes the Meals on Wheels Program)

• $4,500 for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA)

• $3,500 for the Children’s Advocacy Center.