Williamson County approves $ 72.5 million in COVID-19 aid money for water projects
Williamson County Commissioners’ Court has approved $ 72.5 million in federal American Relief Act funds for water / wastewater projects in several cities.
The court still has $ 5 million left in the federal emergency relief money.
“Today is a historic day in Williamson County,” County Judge Bill Gravell said Tuesday. “Providing water resources for our residents must be a top priority. Through the more than $ 70 million we allocated, we are taking a big step to ensure that our residents have access to water.”
The list of approved projects includes $ 14 million for an elevated storage tank and water pipeline construction for Jarrell and $ 14 million for waterline construction from FM 1660 to Texas 130 toll road for Round Rock and Georgetown. It also includes $ 10 million for a sewage pipe reconstruction from US 79 to the Hutto Wastewater Treatment Plant and $ 10 million for a water tank and water pipe construction to the city of Florence.
Jarrell Mayor Larry Bush said the money will allow the city to bring water to new residential and commercial buildings for both fire protection as well as drinking and cooking.
“Like all towns in Williamson County,” he said, “we are experiencing very rapid growth.”
Florence Mayor Mary Condon said it was crucial for the city to get the money for the water projects.
“We have three wells and an interconnection with the city of Georgetown for some additional water, but we’re always looking for more,” Condon said. “This will enable us to look at some projects to bring some much needed water to the community.”
The approved fund also includes $ 5 million for a Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority project for the towns of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander to replace a water intake structure at Lake Travis. Cedar Park will also receive $ 4 million from the county for various water system improvements and Liberty Hill will receive $ 3.5 million for various water and wastewater improvements.
Leander will be given $ 3.5 million for wastewater / recycled water projects and Taylor will receive $ 2 million for various water and wastewater projects. Granger, Coupland, Thrall, Bartlett and Weir will each receive half a million dollars for various water and wastewater projects.
“Leander’s recycled water project will help the city of Leander strategically manage water demand in an area of high growth in the city,” said Ty Meighan, a spokesman for the city.
“The project will be an extension of the city’s existing RM 2243 wastewater treatment plant, where a certain amount of wastewater can be treated and distributed to non-drinking water uses,” Meighan said. “Once completed, the recycling system can help reduce our drinking water needs by up to 600.00 gallons a day. … We expect that the recycled water will be used primarily for irrigation and industrial purposes.”
The money from the American Relief Act may be used for water and sewer infrastructure, according to a website of the Texas Association of Counties.
The water-related projects approved by the commissioners must be under construction by the end of 2024 and completed by the end of 2026 in order for the federal money to be used, said Commissioner Valerie Covey.
“We’ve been talking about water for a long time, and as the county has grown, it’s still a big problem,” she said.
Funding for the projects approved Tuesday comes from the $ 114 million that Williamson County received in cash from the American Relief Act in the spring of 2021.
The other projects that county commissioners have funded from the American Relief Act since receiving them include $ 16.8 million for mental health and breast cancer screening, $ 8.7 million for a fiber optics project for county facilities, and $ 678,500 for the renovation of prison boiler rooms. , $ 215,000 for new. generators for EMS stations and $ 395,000 for an automated system for retrofitting the prison building.
They also included $ 1.8 million for the expansion of the Children’s Advocacy Center, up to $ 1.2 million for three new criminal prosecutors for the district attorney’s office and a civil lawyer for the county attorney’s office, and $ 250,000 for a visiting judge and a solicitor to assist with mental health cases at County Court-at-Law # 4.
Read: Williamson County Commissioners approve COVID money for staff to deal with backlog in the jury
The grants also included $ 195,000 for a backup generator at the Central Texas Treatment Center in Granger, $ 71,690 to complete a new Liberty Hill site for adult supervision, $ 45,000 to complete the redevelopment of a drop-off center to help redirect people with mental illness from prison and $ 55,000 to purchase COVID-19 test for county employees.
In April, commissioners also approved $ 559,637 in American Relief Act funds to hire two district court secretaries and a district court coordinator for the remainder of this year and in 2023 and 2024.