Harney County court discusses flood‑mitigation grants and possible Department of Defense support

County commissioners and staff updated the court on flood‑mitigation planning and grant strategy following last year’s flood impacts.

Staff said they are working with regional partners (including Biz Oregon) and engineers to reinitiate planning work and to identify projects that could be packaged for grant submittals. One county official said they are looking into a USDA or PARC grant and requested staff to determine application deadlines.

A commissioner reported discussions with representatives of the Oregon Military Department and said a DoD training‑opportunity portal could accept project entries; the county was told the program can provide labor, heavy equipment and engineering support as long as materials left behind would be paid for locally. "They can pay for the labor and bring in heavy equipment because it's a training opportunity," one commissioner summarized, adding that the county would likely need to cover materials left after training teams depart.

Court members asked staff to reengage engineering consultants (Klein Schmidt or similar) to produce project studies and to return with a prioritized list of projects staff can submit to the DoD portal and to other grant programs. No formal appropriation was made at the meeting; commissioners agreed to keep pursuing funding and to request further updates.