County to receive more aid for road repair, cleanup
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said the county received some much-needed good news last week: Jasper is approved for up to $1.8 million in a federal grant for cleanup and repairs from the storm and flooding of October and December 2006.

Allen said the funds are a matching grant, where $1.8 million is 75 percent and the county would need to match it with 25 percent, or $450,000.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Willie Stark said that money could come from CDBG funds (Community Development Block Grants) that have been authorized for the county, or from new funds grant-writer David Waxman is still working on obtaining for the county.

Stark and Precinct 1 Commissioner Charles Shofner will meet with Waxman tomorrow, July 5, to go over the terms of the grants. The county is actually eligible for two $350,000 grants, each with different restrictions, according to Stark. One can only be used for paving, the other could be used for infrastructure repairs.

Commissioners scrambled the end of May to prioritize projects and submit budget estimates by the deadline for grant applications. After flooding last year, headwalls and wingwalls, culverts and roads have been patched to be passable, but extensive repairs are still needed all over the county.

Stark says commissioners listed everything they wanted to do. On Monday, July 9, the court will prioritize which projects they can afford to do, based on availability of matching funds.

Roy Parker, commissioner of Precinct 2, said as "new kid" on the court, he quizzed NRCS (National Resources Conservations Service) contracting officer Kathleen Pinkney if they could expect to see results by Christmas.

Parker said her answer was encouraging. "I asked the question because I've seen how long some of this government funding can take, but she seemed like a real mover and shaker," Parker said. "I think we're going to be able to upgrade a lot of problem areas like culverts that have blown out. It looks real promising."

NRCS reported two weeks ago that 1,672 tons of debris that was blocking drainage has been removed from Jasper County.

In spite of the wettest June on record in many years, the city and county did not experience the wide-spread flooding this year that it saw in 2006.