City staff asks council to adopt updated Bell County hazard mitigation plan to restore grant eligibility

Temple — City emergency management staff presented an updated Bell County hazard mitigation plan on May 15 and asked the City Council to adopt the Temple portion so the city can pursue federal mitigation grant programs.

Jennifer Henninger, who led Temple’s participation as the plan’s executive planning team member, told the council the current plan replaces a 2018 document and contains 13 locally scoped action items. She said the plan must be current for the city to be eligible for programs such as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, FEMA Public Assistance, and the Fire Management Assistance grant, and that the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding stream remains on hold pending federal changes.

Henninger said the update added hazards that were not prominent in 2018, including expansive soils, cyberattacks, hazardous materials and terrorism. She said the planning process included public workshops and surveys and that staff incorporated community suggestions into an action plan. The draft plan runs about 817 pages but contains a focused section of action items that apply to Temple alone.

Henninger described why adoption matters for recovery after last year’s tornado. She said FEMA and insurance delays have slowed repairs: “I actually was looking at some of our tornado damage … 24% is what we’ve completed so far in a year,” she said, noting delays from insurance, contracting and FEMA review. She told the council that mitigation investments generally pay back: “FEMA put out a fact sheet that on average, every $1 that we spend, we save an average of $6 for every dollar that we spend on mitigation,” Henninger said.

What happens next, Henninger said, is that if the council adopts the plan staff will submit Temple’s section to FEMA for final approval; once FEMA signs off, the city can immediately compete for mitigation grant dollars. She urged councilmembers to adopt the plan even if they did not review every page, noting most of the 817 pages are regional and that Temple’s obligations are the locally listed items.

No formal vote was recorded in the workshop; Henninger described the item as a request for a forthcoming council adoption vote.

Ending: Staff said they will return the adopted plan to FEMA for approval and will bring grant applications once the plan is effective. The presentation materials noted the plan’s updated hazard rankings, the 13 Temple action items, and potential grant funding sources that require an active hazard mitigation plan.