Legislature awards ARPA funds

The Mississippi Legislature has unveiled special projects funded out of the American Rescue Plan Act, according to Rep. John Faulkner.

About $250 million was distributed in lieu of a bond bill, he said.

Projects awarded in Marshall County came to about $2.5 million, Faulkner said.

The distribution included $1 million to build a substation in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park for fire, ambulance and law enforcement use. The county had requested $2 million for the substation.

The Town of Byhalia received $500,000 to restore the Byhalia Commons, a historic high school currently being used for events and programs.

The historic Isaac Chapel Rosenwald School on Highway 309 South near Watson will get $200,000.

The Town of Potts Camp is receiving $300,000 for a firetruck.

The county was approved for $500,000 for the Blackwater Road bridge project in District 4.

Benton County will receive $500,000 for roads and bridges.

The Town of Hickory Flat was awarded $100,000 for its police station.

Senatobia will get $10 million. Faulkner said requests were made through the respective local delegation in the area. Municipalities and counties express specific projects they want funded, he said, and the local delegation puts those requests into the bill.

He added the City of Holly Springs did not turn in a request for a project this session of the legislature.

Union County received $1 million for roads, with half a million going to District 1 and half a million to District 2.

The legislature appropriated $1.5 billion of the $1.9 billion in ARPA money this year, Faulkner said.

“We plan to come back next year and appropriate the remaining $300 million,” he said.

“Of that, $750 million goes to water, sewer, and infrastructure and the rest to municipalities and counties for special projects.”

The state allotted $600 million to the Mississippi Department of Transportation to apply to safety issues on roads and bridges, said Gary Anderson, consultant for the board of supervisors.

The county has three projects it asked MDOT for help with – the Potts Camp and Byhalia overpasses over the railroad tracks and a Red Banks Road expansion project that would add more lanes on North Red Banks Road.

Regarding the award for the Rosenwald School, Anderson said the money will be used for the museums and for an advanced technology program patterned after one in Water Valley.

“We are looking to emulate them,” he said.

There are six schools in Mississippi that have high technology being offered in school districts, Anderson said. The Water Valley project is separate from the school district.

“We are looking forward to helping elevate STEM technology in the county schools,” he said. “We want the district to get up to the B level.”

A tax bill that contained incentives for developers to build new houses also made it under the wire.

Anderson said HB1564 passed the House but died in the Senate, then came back to life in conference. The language, that would postpone ad valorem increases on vacant subdivision lots until a home is built was folded into HB1108, a bill dealing with railroads, Anderson said.

“We’re giving them a break,” he said. “It costs a lot of money to build a subdivision.” He said developers have to spend money to stop erosion and to build subdivision roads but do not see a return on their investment until homes are sold.

“We are creating jobs for Marshall County and we want people to be able to live here,” he said.

That bill goes into effect July 1, he said.