San Jacinto County court authorizes filing for FY27 disaster-recovery pre-application; shelter and tower top shortlist

San Jacinto County commissioners held an emergency session and authorized staff to submit a FY27 state disaster-recovery pre-application, then spent the meeting weighing two likely project choices: a community shelter and a communications tower.

The chair opened the session by saying the district attorney had advised the county to proceed without a posted notice so staff could "approve and apply for the grant." The chair added, "Losing 500,000 is not an emergency," and later clarified the application request was "technically right around 458,000." Commissioners moved to apply for the operational grant and to pass the required resolutions; the motion was presented as having been made by Commissioner Bennett Tunnell and seconded by Commissioner Donnie, and commissioners verbally signaled assent.

A representative leading the pre-application briefing for the Office of the Governor's program explained the pre-app is a short online survey that asks which activities the county wants to pursue and that the program will invite the top-scored pre-apps to submit full applications. The presenter described the scoring matrix: being impacted by both disasters and showing low- to moderate-income (LMI) metrics carry points, and the social vulnerability index is part of the scoring. "If we can't prove up things, they're just gonna pass you guys by and go on to the next one," the presenter cautioned.

Commissioners discussed two narrowly different tracks: (1) a shelter on a county-owned buyout parcel (Point Blank), and (2) a radio/communications tower to address documented outages. They noted FEMA buyout covenants can limit new construction on some acquired parcels and said the county would need FEMA documentation or alternate sites to avoid disqualification. The presenter said communications infrastructure is an eligible activity and encouraged the county to gather maps, photos and FEMA records to "prove up" the need.

Speakers cited cost examples during planning: a 6-channel DVR site at roughly $1.2 million, one component (identified as an L3 Harris HVAC radio) near $54,000, and a mobile install item near $10,000; the presenter set the program's request minimum and maximum at about $500,000 and $5,000,000 respectively and said applicants typically must request at least $500,000 to qualify in the program band discussed.

Key deadlines flagged during the session: the presenter said the program's call for projects went out April 23 and that the application window referenced in the briefing closes June 12; the pre-application step is the county's first submission and, if invited, the county would receive roughly two months to prepare a full application.

Commissioner Sweeney moved to pursue a tower pre-application at the rectory site and asked staff to supply map coordinates; commissioners agreed the county could submit two pre-applications (one for each activity) but should focus on sites they can document. The court directed staff to assemble site maps, photos and FEMA documentation and to coordinate with the state presenter to complete the pre-app survey.

The meeting closed with staff arranging for signatures and logistics to file the initial pre-application; no formal roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript extract.