Cost overruns, other woes trouble commissioners
GEORGETOWN — In spite of cost overruns and delays, Williamson County Commissioners have approved further work to finish a floodplain survey and map.
County officials initially authorized the map to guide area infrastructure development, authorizing $10 million for the project, which has since run $200,000 over budget, commissioners heard during the June 11 meeting. “This is a 5-yearold project that we all felt was a good idea when we started it, to update the floodplain (map) in Williamson County,” said Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey.
Commissioners Cynthia Long and Terry Cook, representing precincts 2 and 1 respectively, voiced funding
concerns. Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles, who represents the Hutto and Taylor areas, said the floodplain survey still has
merit. “It’s big in scope…It is expensive, but as the county matures, we’re seeing the growth come at us in all directions. (The floodplain map) is not just a useful tool ... it’s a tool that we’ll be able to use for decades,” Boles said.
Bob Daigh, senior director of infrastructure for Williamson County, acknowledged frustrations with the project, but asked officials to approve the additional work needed to finish the map.
He did not ask for more funding. Daigh noted errors, missed estimates and miscommunications. Daigh said the timing of the work and the pace of development presented other challenges.
“What (the court’s approval) will do for us today is to allow us to get to a uniform platform to regulate against, it will provide good information for all the citizens of the county, it will help keep development from occurring in the floodplain and endangering our citizens,” Daigh said.
Commissioners approved the proposal 3-2, with Covey and Long dissenting.
In other business, officials learned May 29 Williamson County Emergency Communications earned a dual accreditation with the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch for both the Emergency Police Dispatch Center of Excellence and Emergency Fire Dispatch Center of Excellence.
Director Kate Wolf said the WCEC had been pursuing accreditation for years.
“They’ve looked at our performance, our education. We’ve maintained standards above and beyond what this accreditation requires,” Wolf said.
In Texas, WCEC is the first agency to receive police accreditation and fifth for fire, Wolf added.
It is the 34th agency on the planet to receive police accreditation and 78th for fire, officials said.
“We’re going to get our medical one next and unless anyone sneaks in on us, we’ll be the first agency in the state to have that, too,” Wolf said.
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It’s a tool that we’ll be able to use for decades.”
— Russ Boles, Precinct 4 commissioner
