Friday, April 26, 2024
County leaders received an update on the list of projects they submitted to the state during a Jan. 24 meeting of the Coryell County Commissioners Court.
County Judge Roger Miller said he and other county leaders recently participated in a conference call with representatives for the Texas General Land Office (GLO), "and we got some good insight."
This summer, a notice will be issued that will open up "in excess of $100 million" in grant funding, Miller said, adding that in order to qualify, projects are expected to be completed by April 25, 2025.
The list of projects the county submitted to the GLO got a favorable response based on rankings and technical aspects, but a request for additional information was made related to the impacts projects will have on low to moderate income families as well as another rating category referred to as environmental justice or social justice. This includes the impact of projects on veterans and minorities, as well as how the projects might help to secure school bus routes.
"We need to expand the list to include more potential projects," Miller said.
"We've had a fairly continuous connection with the land office over the past several months," said Steve Manning, president of Natural Resources Solutions, which has worked closely with the county during the grant application process. "The land office is looking for additional information to be able to consider additional projects. It is going to be a very short application process."
Miller said projects that have a low to moderate income (LMI) impact requirement don't necessarily have to originate in an area with LMI residents, but should in some way support those residents, such as if a project upstream from that area could mitigate concerns, or would improve safety on a school bus route that travels to LMI areas.
As for the veterans component, Miller said that about 18.5% of the county population is designated as belonging to that category, which can help with the environmental justice component of the grant process.
County Road and Bridge Administrator Justin Latham said quite a bit of time and effort was spent in compiling a list of key projects and then narrowing it down to a top 10 list, and expressed concerns that the rules for the grants had changed after the list was submitted.
Manning said what had been a two-part process for the grants was narrowed into one, and that more funding became available beyond initial expectations, which caused some of the modified grant criteria.
Based on the additional amount of money available, Commissioner Keith Taylor said the county needed to actively pursue whatever funds it could.
"We need to pretty much submit everything we've got (on the county needs list)," he said.
Commissioner Scott Weddle suggested "reworking the 20 projects we identified and adding the LMI and environmental justice" information to the grant applications.
