CITY STAFF FRUSTRATED BY DEALING WITH FEMA
City Engineer Lori Lakatos shared her frustration of dealing with FEMA with the Brenham City Council today (Thursday). After the May 2016 flooding, the city eligible to receive FEMA funding for storm damages. Lakatos reviewed with council the many projects that are underway with repairs and their status for receiving FEMA funding. Some projects have been approved by FEMA for only a fraction on the actual repair costs. One example is Jackson Street Park which had an estimate of $155,000 in damages but only was approved for $3,700. Other sites like the Burleson Street crossing of Higgins Branch were denied by FEMA for what they called “lack of maintenance”. Other projects, like the water intake at Lake Somerville that was damaged, are still waiting on a FEMA decision. FEMA is questioning whether they can pay for repairs for damage on Federal land.
Lakatos said part of the problem is the constant turnover in personnel at FEMA. She added that now the funds are channeled through the Texas Division of Emergency Management, adding another layer of bureaucracy and different personnel. Lakatos and City Manager James Fisher suggested the council look at hiring a consultant to handle all of the FEMA funding requests and subsequent appeals. Fisher said the firms usually contract for a percentage of the estimated repair cost. He said he would gather more information and bring it to council in March.
The city water main will be damaged anyway as a result from the fracking and drilling for oil thats soon to come. (Not condoning it)
Lack of maintenance is correct in my book. I drove Burleson 4 times a day everyday, there was a dip in part of that bridge. What did they do… Asphalt It Up….Then it started dippin again same area..What did they do….Asphalt It Up….I’m sorry but I feel the street department loves Bandaids. It is the city’s fault for poor maintenance. 100%.
“Consultant Time! ” So true
Here we go again…. lets hire a consulting firm to help us make decisions and do our job…… Some things never change
Wow…”lack of maintenance”…how would FEMA inspectors know how the damaged area looked previously?
Because the city and the engineers are required to document the affected area and include that documentation with the funding request. This includes photos. You don’t have to be an engineer to see the obvious neglect at that crossing — it’s obvious to anyone with even a passing familiarity with culverts and bridges. There is at least one major reason the city may have hoped to hold out as long as possible on renovating or modernizing that bridge; the city water main from Lake Somerville runs through it, and major rebuilding work would probably require a lengthy shutdown and re-route of the line to avoid potential damage to our daily water supply = $$$.
Another issue, another consultant. With all the high paid positions at city hall, you would think there would be some competence and knowledge to be able to solve problems without hiring a consultant at the taxpayers expense!
In this instance I assume the need for the consultant comes from the amount of time our city officials would waste dealing with numerous phone calls and meetings just to accomplish nothing is a waste of salary
Sean, the great flood happened 1 year and 8 months ago. It has taken the city that long to figure out that they needed a cinsultant. Whe I had my plat approved the city engineer even said that her previous work was FEMA related. Something does not add up here.