Williamson County OKs $72.5 million in COVID-19 relief money for water projects
The Williamson County Commissioners Court has approved $72.5 million in federal American Relief Act money for water/wastewater projects in several cities.
The court still has $5 million left unallocated in the federal relief money.
“Today is a historic day in Williamson County," said County Judge Bill Gravell on Tuesday. "Providing water resources to our residents must be a top priority. Through the more than $70 million we allocated, we are taking a great step to ensure our residents have access to water."
The list of approved projects includes $14 million for an elevated storage tank and water line construction for Jarrell and $14 million for water line construction from FM 1660 to the Texas 130 tollway for Round Rock and Georgetown. It also includes $10 million for a wastewater line reconstruction from U.S. 79 to the Hutto Wastewater Treatment Plant and $10 million for a water tank and water line construction for the city of Florence.
Jarrell Mayor Larry Bush said the money will allow the city to bring water to new residential and commercial developments for both fire protection as well as drinking and cooking.
"Like all cities in Williamson County," he said, "we are undergoing very rapid growth."
Florence Mayor Mary Condon said getting the money for the water projects was critical for the city.
"We have three wells and an interconnection with the city of Georgetown for some supplemental water but we are 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 cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander to replace a water intake structure at Lake Travis. Cedar Park also will receive $4 million from the county for miscellaneous water system improvements and Liberty Hill will get $3.5 million for miscellaneous water and wastewater system improvements.
Leander will be given $3.5 million for wastewater/reclaimed water projects and Taylor will receive $2 million for miscellaneous water and wastewater projects. Granger, Coupland, Thrall, Bartlett and Weir will each receive half a million dollars for miscellaneous water and wastewater projects.
"Leander's reclaimed water project will help the city of Leander strategically manage water demand in a high-growth area of the city," said Ty Meighan, a city spokesman.
"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 for non-potable uses," Meighan said. "Once complete, the reclamation system could help reduce our drinking water demand by up to 600,00 gallons per day. … We expect the reclaimed water will be used primarily for irrigation and industrial purposes."
The American Relief Act money is allowed to be used for water and sewer infrastructure, according to a website from the Texas Association of Counties.
The water-related projects approved by the commissioners have to be under construction by the end of 2024 and finished by the end of 2026 for the federal money to be used, said Commissioner Valerie Covey.
"We have been talking about water for a long time and as the county has grown it has continued to be a big issue," she said.
The funding for the projects approved Tuesday come from the $114 million Williamson County received in American Relief Act money in spring 2021.
The other projects that the county commissioners have allocated American Relief Act money for since receiving it include $16.8 million for mental health services and breast cancer screening, $8.7 million for a fiber optics project for county facilities, $678,500 for jail boiler room renovations, $215,000 for new generators for EMS stations and $395,000 for an automation system retrofit for the jail building.
They also included $1.8 million for the expansion of the Children's Advocacy Center, up to $1.2 million for three new felony prosecutors for the district attorney's office and one civil attorney for the county attorney's office, and $250,000 for a visiting judge and a court clerk to help with mental health cases at County Court-at-Law #4.
Read: Williamson County Commissioners approve COVID money for staff to handle jury trial backlog
The allocations also included $195,000 for a backup generator at the Central Texas Treatment Center in Granger, $71,690 to finish a new Liberty Hill location for adult probation services, $45,000 to finish remodeling a drop-off center to help divert people with mental illnesses from jail and $55,000 to buy COVID-19 tests for county employees.
In April, commissioners also approved $559,637 in American Relief Act money to hire two district court clerk specialists and one district court coordinator for the rest of this year and in 2023 and 2024.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Williamson County approves $72.5M in COVID-19 relief money for water projects
