Orange County Emergency Management Coordinator Ralph Valenciano is monitoring both the Neches River and the Sabine River to be ready to issue warnings to citizens if flooding gets more severe. Western Orange County is experiencing flooding from the Neches River.
Valenciano told the Commissioner Court Tuesday that flooding from the Neches River is already affecting areas in the western end of the county and is not expected to crest until Saturday, March 3, with a level of about 7.5 feet. He said this would be considered moderate flooding for the area.
After inspecting the area Valenciano said there are some roads like the 400 block of Four Oaks Ranch Road that are impassable for small passenger vehicles. Six homes in that area will probably be accessible only by boat when the crest occurs later. He added this is the fourth flooding type incident for that area of the county in the last two years.
Orange County should not be affected as much by the flooding on the Sabine River according to Valenciano. Some low-lying homes on the Sabine around Deweyville may flood, but no flooding is expected for Orange County.
The Commissioners Court approved Tuesday extending the agreement with FEMA to use the Orange County Convention and Expo Center as a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC). The agreement was due to expire on February 28, but has been extended through March 17. FEMA announced the Disaster Recovery Center in Vidor will close as of the end of February. Valenciano told the Commissioners that about 20 people are still using the DRC at the Expo Center daily. Only about ten people visited the DRC in Vidor early this week.
The Commissioner Court and Jefferson Energy Terminal reached an agreement for tax abatement covering the next ten years. Jefferson Energy Terminal will receive a 100 percent tax abatement from Orange County on the improvement value of the company’s $150-million expansion. Jefferson Energy will make payments in lieu of taxes during the 10-year period of $200,000 for the first year and $100,000 for the remaining nine years. The company will make the first PILOT in January 2020. Mark Viator with Jefferson Energy Terminal attended the meeting and thanked the Commissioners Court for approving the agreement which only covers taxes to Orange County and no other taxing entities.
At the start of the meeting Heather Champion with the Spindletop Center gave the Court its annual report concerning its services for the mental health of citizens in Orange, Jefferson, Hardin, and Chambers Counties. Champion showed figures indicating Spindletop assisted close to 12,000 people in 2017 in the four counties.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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