City-County Cooperation Award Winner for 2010
Angelina County and the City of Lufkin
The City of Lufkin and Angelina County have been named winners of the 2010 Texas Municipal League and Texas Association of Counties City-County Cooperation Award. The city and county are being honored for their successful collaboration on a facility to house evacuees from disasters. The two entities have joined forces to create CADILAC, the Civic and Disaster Infrastructure of Lufkin/Angelina County.
During the planning stages of the project, the city and county determined that the most cost effective method of creating this housing facility would be to design a dual-purpose expansion of the City of Lufkin’s existing civic center. Currently, the center shelters medical and special needs evacuees when a disaster strikes. Once the expansion is complete, the facility will also be able to house evacuees from short-term facilities like schools and churches.
In working toward the goal of providing a long-term shelter to evacuees in a time of crisis or emergency, both the city and county have unselfishly collaborated and combined resources. They leveraged $7.4 million in federal Hurricane Ike Disaster funding for the project, with both groups pooling the Ike funding each received rather than spending the money on separate projects and purchases. The city owns the civic center, whereas the bulk of the funding for the project will come from Angelina County. Once the expansion is complete, the facility will be maintained and operated by the City of Lufkin when it is not being used as a shelter.
The city and county are well on their way to completing the facility. With showers, restrooms, telecommunications, and the ability to separate large rooms into smaller spaces, CADILAC will offer a consolidated sheltering facility for up to 1,000 short-term evacuees and 350 long-term evacuees. As the City of Lufkin and Angelina County continue to partner in sharing responsibilities and cost, they will succeed in providing a needed service not only to the community, but also to anyone who might be affected by a disaster.
