Kerr County camps ask for financial help with proposed safety legislation

[ad_1]

HUNT, Texas (KXAN) – In a letter to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, three Hill Country camps are asking lawmakers to help with the costs of complying with the newly proposed safety regulations, including a rule that prevents the state from issuing or renewing a license for camps that operate cabins located in a flood plain.

The legislation comes months after devastating flash floods over the Fourth of July weekend killed 27 children and counselors at Kerr County’s Camp Mystic and its longtime owner, Dick Eastland. Several of the parents who lost their daughters at Camp Mystic testified that the deaths of their children were preventable and urged lawmakers to pass the camp safety legislation.

“The camp had a heightened duty of care, and they failed to perform. That failure cost 25 campers and two young counselors their lives,” the father of 8-year-old Linnie McCown, Michael McCown, told lawmakers on Aug. 20.

Camp Mystic, one of several camps located along the Guadalupe River, was able to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove dozens of its buildings from the 100-year flood map, according to an Associated Press report.

Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1 would ban the Department of State Health Services from issuing or renewing a youth camp license for a camp that operates cabins located in a floodplain, with a few exceptions, and require the state agency to post online the names of camps that have an active license.

The Campaign for Camp Safety, launched by the families of Camp Mystic victims, posted the Aug. 28 letter from Camp Waldemar, Camp Stewart, and Vista Camps on Instagram. The Campaign for Camp Safety said it had no comment on the letter. But said it supports “lawmakers’ efforts to pass SB1 and HB1 to ensure common sense safety reforms are in place for the 2026 summer camp season.” 

In the letter, first reported by the Texas Tribune, the camp operators stated that the prohibition in HB 1 and SB 1 would, collectively, require them to spend millions of dollars rebuilding cabins outside the floodplain.

Camp operators asked lawmakers to consider “meaningful financial support,” such as insurance or state grants, to help offset the costs. They requested that their camps also be allowed to operate while rebuilding cabins outside the floodplain. The owners of the camps stated that covering rebuilding costs without being able to operate and generate revenue would likely force their camps to close – an outcome they say would impact local businesses, employees, and the economy in Kerr County.

KXAN reached out to the camps that signed onto the letter, but so far, has not heard back.

“We support the enhanced provisions for emergency planning and staff training in Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1,” the letter said. “The cost of compliance must be met with partnership and support, not mandates that dismantle the very institutions that have nurtured children for over a century.”

Senate Bill 1 would also require camps to maintain redundant internet connections and submit emergency plans that must meet new minimum standards. The legislation would require DSHS to store submitted emergency plans in a digital database accessible to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).

[ad_2]

Source link