AUSTIN (KXAN) — Travis County staff continue to work out of the Round Mountain Baptist Church in the Sandy Creek neighborhood after devastating floods damaged hundreds of properties and claimed lives.
Travis County staff said state resources are also still on the ground in the impacted areas, including staff from the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).
Cost to taxpayers
Travis County is still trying to get a handle on how much their response to the floods will cost, but already say millions have been spent to get people immediate relief.
“In many of these decisions that all of y’all are making, we either have to follow these FEMA guidelines that often take a long time, way longer than we want to, or we say ‘you know what we’re just going to pay for it,'” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said.
That’s one of the reasons why they’re considering raising property taxes, which is allowed one-time under state law without an election because of the disaster.
Some of the residents impacted by floods may qualify for some property tax exemptions. That process is done through the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD), a different entity than Travis County.
Debris management
The county said, as of Tuesday, it’s picked up a total of 46,694 cubic yards of debris from the Sandy Creek area. The county is also moving through the Cow Creek area.
The county has received roughly 70 right of entry forms from people impacted — those allow the county to go onto private property and help clear debris.
County staff estimated the county has spent roughly $1 million on debris removal already, and are likely to spend $4-5 million more.
Burn ban
Travis County Fire Marshal Gary Howell said the limited burn ban (with permitted controlled burns allowed) will remain in place for at least the next couple weeks. That burn ban is only for the areas directly impacted by floods.
“I’m going to air on the side of safety, I think that burn ban is working well,” Howell said.
Howell said there have been “quite a few” requests for burns, as people are working to clear significant amounts of debris off their property.
You can find more information about that burn ban here.
Sandy Creek bridge
The county now has a contracted design team working on the repair plans for the bridge, according to staff.
“The hope is we have some preliminary drafts of that early next week,” Robert Valenzuela, director for Transportation and Natural Resources, said. “Which then allows us to then move into starting the discussions with contractors for the repair.”
Valenzuela said the county is also working to make sure the temporary solution, the low water crossing set up next to the bridge, remains usable. He says they will put a “binding agent” on top of that low water crossing to make sure the gravel holds together.
The county is also working to repair parts of Cow Creek Road that were damaged by the floods.
Rebuilding
Shawn Snyder, Travis County Flood Plain manager, said despite being posted up in the Sandy Creek area, staff have had very few in-person requests for help with the permitting and rebuilding process.
“My hope is that that’s going to start picking up, people are starting to move that way as they’re able to get the debris off their property and looking into what their next options are,” Snyder said.
Snyder is encouraging residents who need to rebuild to come talk to them at the church.