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Council votes to issue RFQ for grant administrator after staff warns Brookshire lost mitigation allocations in county plan
Summary
A city presentation on drainage and flood mitigation noted deleted actions from the Waller County Hazard Mitigation Plan and urged the city to hire a grant administrator; council authorized issuing an RFQ to secure grant-administration services.
A city staff presentation on drainage and mitigation reviewed the Waller County Hazard Mitigation Plan, described past proposed mitigation projects that were removed from the plan and urged the council to reestablish grant-administration capacity.
The presenter summarized mitigation activities (levees, flood walls, ditch widening, buyouts) and identified specific allocations that the city no longer deems priorities, including a previously listed $3 million voluntary buyout program and a $2.5 million ditch/restore project. The presenter said those actions were deleted from the plan in prior updates and noted the city needs an administrator to research funding sources and prepare complex grant applications. “We need a grant administrator…a person to come in and as the presentation mentioned, it's a difficult process to go get that get grant money,” the presenter said.
Council then considered agenda item 8 — authorization to go out for RFQs for a grant administration company — and approved the motion by voice vote. Staff and councilors discussed that other neighboring jurisdictions have retained grant writers or administrators (Hempstead, Katy, Sealy were cited) and that without a dedicated administrator Brookshire risks missing grant opportunities available through FEMA and other programs.
Council directed staff to issue an RFQ and return with a timeline and scope for the contract; staff will present proposals to council for selection.
