County hires consultant for USACE permit extension on Lamar Beach flood‑protection project

Aransas County commissioners on July 28 approved hiring Santech Consulting Services Inc. to prepare and submit a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit-extension request for the Lamar Beach Road Phase 2 flood-protection project. The motion authorizes the county judge to sign agreements and notes a contract amount of $5,429. County staff said the current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit (reference SWG-2019-0073 in the meeting materials) will expire Dec. 31, 2025, and that the county is pursuing a CAPRA grant to fund continuation of the project. Staff said the procurement was benchmarked against other engineering firms and that selecting Santech keeps a second engineering firm available for future phases so the county does not rely exclusively on one firm at build-out. The court approved the selection and authorized the county judge to sign necessary documents. Staff said they would proceed with the permit-extension work and continue to coordinate grant applications and project funding for the larger flood-protection work.