Odem accepts county grant for disaster relief funds

Odem City Council has approved an agreement between the city and San Patricio County to access grant funds meant for disaster relief and preparedness.

The agreement is part of a Community Development Block Grant Mitigation. The county establishes these agreements that allow them to distribute grants to cities and towns for projects in the wake or in advance of "declared disasters."

"What we were discussing at the last council meeting was in regard to the storm (Alberto). You know, we didn't have a backup for our water system," Mayor David Maldonado explained the need for funding such as this.

Odem was eligible to participate in this agreement following Hurricane Harvey in 2017 but wasn't able to do so due to confusion over the use of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

According to Maldonado, "The county will manage everything. Their engineers will engineer the entire project. The funds will come out and get paid through the county. They'll be managing everything for the city."

Moving forward, the City of Odem will use the funds from this agreement on two major projects. The first is their ongoing Water Quality Equipment Improvement project. This includes buying a new permanent generator to avoid a situation similar to Alberto.

The other project involves the city's water tower. Once clearances are given, the tower will be drained, a "comprehensive inspection" conducted to identify any issues, and ultimately, water quality monitoring and treatment equipment will be replaced.

According to Maldonado, the water tower rehabilitation will not begin for at least 6 months.

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