KOUNTZE, Texas — Hardin County leaders believe millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds soon coming to the county will help them fight flooding and improve several county-owned properties.
The county is set to receive $11.2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, and half of the money is available now. County officials are set to decide on how they will spend the money on Tuesday.
There are many projects county leaders hope the money will pay for. So far, $1.2 million of the relief money will be put towards repairing drainage issues.
“We did allocate $1.2 million for that Parkway Life drainage ditch, that's what we call it. That drainage ditch behind the Parkway Life Church right there just north of Mitchell road, at the intersection of Mitchell Road and FM 3513," Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel said. "That ditch is eroding."
County leaders plan to apply for grants. That will be sorted out during Tuesday’s commissioner court meeting.
More grants could mean additional projects could be funded.
"And there are eight different projects,” Judge McDaniel said. “Now one of them, you can break it down into three, because its the hydrology and drainage study on three different waterways. But, we'll take action tomorrow hopefully to authorize the grant administrator to apply for those grant projects”
These projects include renovations to the county court house, jail and court house annex building. The adjustments aim to make the facilities more inclusive by upgrading court house bathrooms to make them more accessible for people with disabilities and fixing the HVAC system in the prison.
McDaniel believes it may be a slow process, but he expects the projects to be completed in 2024.
“Just like with any grant, there's all kinds of red tape that you have to go through before you actually see any results," Judge McDaniel said. "I mean, we're just now, in the past six months, starting to see some money coming into this area from the Hurricane Harvey disaster. Whenever you apply for these grants, you have to go through environmental processes and things like that. It just takes time.”
There are a great deal of projects county leaders hope the money will pay for, and the list seems to keep growing.