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County moves to advertise for countywide drainage study to seek grant-funded engineering
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Summary
The County of Star voted to advertise a request for proposals for an engineering firm to perform a countywide drainage study and to help identify grant funding, with officials saying the study could cost in the millions and cover watersheds north of U.S. 83.
The County of Star Commissioners Court voted Aug. 11 to advertise a request for proposals for engineering services to conduct a countywide drainage study and to identify potential grant funding sources. Judge (presiding) said the purpose is to find firms that can help the county both design a study and seek outside funding so taxpayers do not have to pay the full cost.
The county intends the study to evaluate drainage across the entire county, not only municipal problem spots, because officials said fixes confined to one area can fail if they do not address where water originates. "If you do a fix one place, but you don't address where it's coming from, then it either just makes it worse or it doesn't fix yours down," a staff member identified in the record as Rose said. The court discussed watersheds north of U.S. 83 — from Sullivan City to Valcon — and the need to move water to the river; the judge said that determining whether open ditches, property acquisition or other measures are needed will be part of the study.
County officials said the study will be expensive. The judge described it as likely a "seven‑digit" project and said the court prefers to find grant money to pay consultants rather than use existing county funds. Rose told the court the plan is to compile any existing drainage studies and build on them, noting that the city of Roma has an older study that is "terribly outdated." The request for proposals is intended to show what firms can do and how they would pursue grant funding to pay for the work.
The court moved and seconded the item and voted in favor; the motion carried. No specific firm, budget, timetable or grant source was identified during the discussion.
The court did not set a study budget in the meeting; officials said the exact cost, funding sources and schedule will depend on responses to the advertised request for proposals. The discussion occurred during agenda item 15 and included statements from the presiding judge, Rose (staff), and an unidentified commissioner who asked clarifying questions about municipal studies and study scope.
