El Paso County, Colorado, to Take on 7 Storm Water Projects
The Colorado El Paso County Board of commissioners is allocating $25 million of the American Rescue Plan Act Funds to go to surface and storm water infrastructure.
According to KRDO, El Paso County ranks second in receiving the most funds in the state. Overall, the state will receive nearly $140 million in funds. County Commissioner for District 4 Longinos Gonzalez said the board is planning to use the leftover funds on water, storm, and road infrastructure.
"We want to make sure we are utilizing these dollars effectively for our community, in addition to the ways we have done that in the last couple of years," said Gonzalez, reported KRDO.
The city will use $10 million for pothole repair and pavement resurfacing. El Paso County Department of Public Works has identified seven storm water projects which will use $10 million and an additional $5 million will be saved for future projects.
The U.S. Treasury Department released the final rule for the state and local recovery funds in January, including that counties may use funding for the provision of government services, reported KRDO.
"Once they made the rule change we could finally allocate some dollars to roads and the maximum amount we could authorize was ten million and so that is why we have always prioritized infrastructure, roads, and public safety…But this was our first opportunity to use those dollars for roads," Gonzalez said, reported KRDO.
These projects will take between 18 and 33 months.
The county has asked the community to submit proposals for an additional $20 million in water infrastructure grants and the county will have until the end of 2024 to use the funds, reported KRDO.
