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Keene eligible for Texas General Land Office grant to fund new comprehensive plan
Summary
City staff said the Texas General Land Office has determined Keene is eligible for a planning grant; staff expect $250,000 pending completion of required paperwork and will use the funds for public outreach, mapping and an updated master plan.
The City of Keene has been told it is eligible for a Texas General Land Office planning grant that staff expect will provide about $250,000 to support development of a new comprehensive (master) plan, a city staff member told the Type B board.
City staff said the award will fund public engagement such as citizen town-hall meetings and technical work to produce a new plan for the city. The grant application originally requested $300,000; the General Land Office issued an eligibility determination that reduced the initial award amount and indicated the city qualifies for $250,000 once the city sends the requested paperwork, the city staff member said.
Why it matters: an updated comprehensive plan would provide a citywide framework for infrastructure, parks and growth, and staff said the work will produce detailed maps of underground and aboveground utilities and an analysis of where infrastructure improvements should be prioritized.
On the board's call for updates, the City Administrator said the grant is not a matching award and requires no local cash contribution beyond staff time and assistance organizing meetings and outreach. "It's not a matching grant. You know, there's nothing that the city has to put towards it other than assistance to get the meetings going and feedback marketing it such and such," the City Administrator said.
A staff speaker described technical deliverables the grant would support, saying the plan will include mapping of buried lines and other infrastructure and will inform prioritization. "When we're done, we'll have actual comprehensive maps of where everything is, you know, underground, above. It'll actually do, an analysis of, like, people moving in. So it's it's not just a matter of everyone knows Fourth Street needs to get done, but it'll actually apply what c streets really do need to be, taken care of first and foremost," the staff member said.
The board and staff said the city has contracted a grant administrator through Public Management to complete the paperwork and help secure the award. No formal vote or council action was reported at the meeting; staff said the city will finalize the grant once requested documents are returned to the Texas General Land Office.
Board members signaled support for using the grant to produce a plan that provides direction for future infrastructure and parks projects.
What’s next: staff will submit the requested paperwork to the Texas General Land Office and begin outreach planning with the grant administrator; no schedule for public meetings was provided at the meeting.
