Emergency management asks for EOC tools, assistant and plans tied to possible $10M wildfire grant

Erath County emergency management officials told commissioners they need more staff and infrastructure to run a permanent Emergency Operations Center and to compete for large grants, including a potential Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) that could support a $10 million project if funded.

The county's emergency management lead described requests to increase supplies and continuing-education funds, buy rugged tablets for CAD and reporting, and add server and IT capacity for a dedicated EOC. He urged the court to consider creating an assistant emergency manager/planner position to build grant capacity and maintain continuity when the EMC is unavailable.

"If that all goes through, then that's the $10,000,000 for whatever project," the official said about the potential wildfire defense grant that would follow completion of the CWPP. The office also proposed a project to document county roads with photos and GPS points to speed FEMA reimbursements after storm damage.

Officials discussed communications resiliency: fiber-backup connections at individual radio-tower sites were explored, with vendor quotes the county characterized as roughly $240,000 per site and about $950 per month on a 60-month contract. Commissioners acknowledged the price is high and said the county is not positioned to install fiber at every site immediately, but agreed improved redundancy is a long-term need.

No formal vote was taken; commissioners directed staff to fold the emergency-management requests into the county's consolidated budget review and return with cost estimates and prioritization.