Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Coryell County Commissioners Court discussed a dilemma in which it will have to walk a fine line — and likely get outside help — in managing contracts for road improvements that must be completed within the next two years in order to qualify for state administered federal funding.
While it's a good problem to have, and the county stands to potentially gain tens of millions in federal grants administered by the Texas General Land Office (GLO) — it will also require close monitoring of all the projects to ensure everything is complete by the expected timeline of April 5, 2025.
Hours of the March 28 meeting of the commissioners court were devoted to discussion of the grants and what the GLO has described as "shovel-ready projects."
"We've had a lot of conversations about what is a shovel-ready project," said Lillian Beerman, a project specialist with Natural Resources Solutions (NRS). That consulting firm is working closely with the county and the GLO to determine which projects will qualify for funding — and how much money will be available.
Beerman pointed to a project in Brazoria County (southwest of Houston) as an example, saying it was similar to work planned in Coryell County. Brazoria County was unable to spend all the allotted money, and sent $6 million back to the state.
Justin Latham, director of the county road and bridge department, said he was curious why Brazoria County couldn't spend all the money it was granted.
"A lot of coastal counties had money (from federal grants) but were unable to spend all of it," said Steve Manning, president of NRS. "They were hit with several disasters and got multiple grants. They received $17 million and were only able to spend $7 million of it."
Beerman said the GLO has an 80-20 cost share — state or federal grants pay for 80% of the cost when grants are awarded for these roadwork projects, and the county must fund the other 20%. "That can be cash or in-kind contributions," she said.
Coryell County plans to have a significant amount of its cost come from in-kind contributions. Latham said the county has ramped up its production of crushed rock in anticipation of using the material on the numerous projects anticipated.
"We need to look at this the way the GLO is looking at it and where the money can be spent quickly and efficiently,"" Manning said. That's because the federal government has an expiration date on the grant funds, and it must be spent by the spring of 2025.
Two requirements to be considered in the grant process are serving those who live in low to moderate income areas (LMI) and adhering to the federal government's criteria for "environmental justice." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies."
The county had already submitted a list of projects to the GLO before the extra LMI and environmental justice (EJ) requirements were added, and then modified the list of projects submitted.
"Basically we were confined to the grant (requirements)," Latham said. "We had to pick projects in those two areas.
Manning said the county was able to add projects that include bus routes to local school districts, which also meet the LMI and environmental justice criteria.
"We'll be doing 30% of the work ourselves," Latham said. "That's our in-kind. We'll be hitting it pretty hard and heavy over the next 18 months.
Manning said 53 miles of roadwork will be within the LMI and EJ areas, with another 85 miles located within the footprint of local school districts. We need another three or four projects that fit within the school district footprint," he said.
County Judge Roger Miller said he is excited about the projects that will be done through the grant funding. "I'm encouraged," he said.
County Attorney Brandon Belt said some of the projects will take place "in what I consider high density (traffic and development) areas" and added that may impact driveway culverts.
"I'd estimate we'll touch 90% of them (driveway culverts in project areas)," Latham said. "We will need to look at those and bring them up to grade.”
About 117 miles of county roads have been designated as failed or failing roads based on road quality standards, Manning said. He said because of the savings and the shared costs, the county will be able to do work in some other areas that do not meet LMI or EJ criteria.
"There's going to be some additional funds, and if vendors know you'll be doing 40 miles of road instead of 20, that helps you," Manning said. "Let's talk about money a little bit. If 16 miles of work are done the county will receive $320,000 per mile for roads built by the county.
Latham said having materials such as crushed rock on hand will be a huge benefit to the county.
"I've been talking to contractors, and road base is borderline in a shortage," he said. "Having it on hand will help us meet the 18-month timeline."
Manning estimated that the GLO plans to announce its grants within 90 days of applications being submitted, and said the county should be ready to submit those applications by June 5 or earlier.
"The feds will want any unspent money back by April 5, 2025," he said. "That's a hard and fast date — there's no wiggle room."
Latham said a lot needs to be done in a short time.
"We'll need to get quotes on all these projects from three different vendors — that's a lot of stuff to do in four weeks," he said. "We have 55 miles mapped out but we're trying to get outside that and figure out another 40, 50 or 80."
Manning said the county can expect a significant amount of funding to be available. As of late March, three Texas counties were in the running for more than $120 million in grant funding, including Coryell County.
"We originally submitted $14-$15 million in projects and the GLO told us, 'That's not enough, what else have you got?' I came back and said we may submit $40-$50 million, and the GLO said, 'We'd like to help you with that.' It's a race and we're in front, and we want to stay in front."
Manning said one concern is a cash flow issue, because funds will be received after work is done.
"At the heart of it is how we do short-term finance of millions of dollars in projects that we've never dealt with," Judge Miller said. "We have two options — a tax note and local 12-month financing."
Members of the commissioners court, including Commissioner Kyle Matthews, said they prefer local financing.
"I've already made some inquiries," Miller said, "so having a line of credit (via local banks) has been discussed. We could have a line of credit established within 30 days. We talked generally in the $25 million range."
