Four years after fire, Bastrop applies for $139M grant
Four years have passed since Texas’ worst wildfire burned through Bastrop County, leaving two people dead, destroying nearly 1,600 homes and 34,000 acres of beloved loblolly pine forest the area was known for.
Since then, homes have been rebuilt and trees replanted. More than $23 million in federal aid helped the county start to rebound. The process, though, has been slow.
But now, with another anniversary comes new hope.
Bastrop County is gearing up to apply for $139 million in federal money to pay for seven projects that would help make the area better able to respond to future disasters. The money is a part of the National Disaster Resiliency Competition, put on by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the John D. Rockefeller Foundation.
“It’s an opportunity I think we will never have again,” Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher said to a group of gathered city, county and emergency officials Sept. 1.
After the fires, the county saw a $193 million loss in taxable property values and more than $300 million in insured losses. County Judge Paul Pape recounted, at last week’s meeting, how a major hotel chain was considering Bastrop County for a resort location in the pine forest between Bastrop and Smithville. “All of that went up in smoke with the fire,” Pape said.
“This is a very rare and unique opportunity for Bastrop County to really do something that would be a game-changer for our economy,” Pape said. “The economic engine of Bastrop slowed down — there’s no question about that.”
About $1 billion is up for grabs and Bastrop County will be facing off with 40 other localities across the country for the sought-after dollars. To be eligible, an entity had to have experienced a natural disaster between 2011 and 2013. The city of West is applying in response to its 2013 fertilizer plant explosion and Travis County is applying for the 2013 Halloween Flood.
The seven projects Bastrop County is applying to fund will be judged separately based on the capacity to complete, the need, soundness of the approach, partnership agreements and supporting agreements from organizations or other governmental entities and long-term commitment.
The county, led by Fisher, has already started work on a wildfire mitigation program that aims to remove fuel from wooded areas to prevent future uncontrollable wildfires using a $4 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The request for $10.6 million from the resiliency grant would allow the county to extend its efforts, partnering with other public and private entities. The project would expand the current fuel mitigation program from its current acreage and introduce new mitigation tools, add wildfire modeling to help identify vulnerable neighborhoods and train officials in new fire management techniques.
With $66.78 million, the county proposes to construct a large exposition center for youth activities, adult and heritage studies, public events and entertainment. The center would also be equipped with classrooms, a kitchen, restrooms with showers and meeting rooms, among other features.
Four new fire stations would be built at $12.72 million with modern equipment in more convenient locations around the county in an effort to reduce response times, according to the draft application.
The county is also proposing to spend $5.3 million to construct a rural water system for the large La Reata Ranch subdivision, which is surrounded by a pine ecosystem similar to where the fire spread. The system could provide adequate water flow to fight fires, according to the application draft.
Officials identified two subdivi- sions within the county that were developed before the floodplain regulations were set — Hidden Shores in the county, 3 miles from Smithville, and Pecan Shores in Smithville’s limits. Both developments often experience flooding because of their location near the Colorado River, according to the application draft.
This project’s plan is to spend $12.72 million to create a voluntary acquisition program for the developed and undeveloped properties and also to create new, safe and public access to the river.
Currently, there are only four places in the county where drivers can cross the Colorado River. Another project would spend $21.2 million to create an alternate evacuation route for those using Texas 21 and Texas 95 and build a new bridge over the river.
The seventh project would spend $10.6 million to build a resource center that would consolidate human and safety services in one location — including emergency management, medical and mental health services, indigent health care and veterans services. It would also include space for public meetings, offices and training, and space for other agencies such as the Texas Forest Service, Department of Public Safety and the Department of State Health Services.
Decisions on the National Disaster Resiliency Competition grants will be announced in January.