After a series of atmospheric rivers devastated areas of Tulare County in early 2023, the Tulare County Resource Management Agency (RMA) began repairing damaged road and bridge infrastructure in unincorporated areas of Tulare County. Part of the recovery work includes finding industrial partners to work with to ensure the safety of our communities. As such, the RMA has published a Request for Proposal (RFP) for two distinct groups of projects. Out of roughly 250 repair projects resulting from the 2023 massive flood, the RMA now has about 55 active projects remaining, which are divided into two groups: roads and bridges.
The group of road projects includes five projects related to mountain road damage, landslides, and excessive rain. The group of bridge projects includes nine locations of damaged bridges. Public Works team members, including Engineer I Sukhvir Kaur and Engineer IV Grey Tompkins, oversee these projects. Yet, they are not the only RMA workers to help complete the projects. Members of the Fiscal & Administrative Services team, including Analyst-Staff Services III Valeri Holbrook, are also disaster workers in charge of handling the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and disaster funding. The County will work with FEMA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to repair flood damage within the region. These repair projects will be funded with Local County Road Funds, with reimbursement anticipated through FEMA. However, the team work at the RMA does not stop there. The RMA is also admitting employees into FEMA’s training courses, so they are certified to help in this and other disaster situations. Any time there is a disaster, RMA team members tackle FEMA-related projects as a team – from roadways to spreadsheets and any other task in between.