AUSTIN, Texas – Lawmakers grilled Upper Guadalupe River Authority general manager Tara Bushnoe about the authority’s lack of flood safety measures during a public hearing on Wednesday.
The eleven and a half hour meeting included a discussion surrounding an article published by the Houston Chronicle, detailing the river authority’s decision to raise property taxes in the watershed nearly 50 percent after a 1987 flood killed 10 teenagers.
The tax increase funded a new flood warning system at the time, but years later more money was needed to upgrade the system.
“We weren’t successful in achieving these match dollars in order to move forward,” Bushnoe said. “We tried. We didn’t get it.”
According to the Houston Chronicle article, though, the UGRA has about $3.4 million in reserve funds.
“That’s what makes me upset,” Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio said, “is that the Upper Guadalupe River Authority had the funds to purchase the sirens, and because they didn’t get a grant, they chose not to purchase the siren warning system.”
Bushnoe argued that in the meantime, the river authority did implement a different system.
“Our board did take forward action on that by funding and developing that dashboard as an initial step,” Bushnoe said, “because we felt it was appropriate to take a phased approach.”
Lawmakers were not satisfied with that response.
“I’d like to talk to your board,” Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said. “I hope they’re there in Kerrville to answer to the actual people of that region.”
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