County Judge Steve Young told commissioners Monday at their meeting in the Milam County Courthouse that the Texas Division of Emergency Management changed the rules in midstream with respect to the use of its money.
“We were using CARES Act funding to renovate the former Professional Building for urgent care. The initial usage requirements mandated the funds had to be used by Dec. 30, 2020.” he said. “However, we had tentatively been given authority to go forward with the understanding that there were unforeseen delays that were simply not our fault.
But Young heard from TDEM on Tuesday saying that the rule had been changed again and that projects using those funds had to be completed by the end of the year.
“Now we must be finished with the construction phase and actually occupy the building by Dec. 30, 2020. This was simply not possible and thus we put the project on hold for the time being, he said after the meeting.
The commissioners also okayed a resolution to offer $500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person who dumps, keeps or stores trash, including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, furniture or any other debris as dumping also violated the Health & Safety Code.
“We have done this for tires and we need this for trash,” Young said before the vote.
“We are going to stop this. We are actively working to clean up the county,” he said.
Young reminded all that Milam County recently partnered with Connected Nation Texas to bring high-speed internet to all parts of the County. Connected Nation Texas is a public/private partnership whose goal is to provide affordable broadband accessibility and use across all of Texas. Of course, this is not going to be a quick and easy fix. Rather it is going to take some time to find out exactly what we already have and what we can do to solve the problem.
He asked all those at the meeting and those listening in to fill out the broadband survey.
County residents can go to https://www.myconnectedcommunity.org/milam-county/ to fill out the short survey.
Once at the survey, choose from one of the categories and complete the survey. One may complete a survey for more than one category. For example, if you are a business owner, complete the business survey and the personal survey.
Remember, this information will be critical to determining what is needed and how improvements will be funded, he said
“You don’t have to give any personal information,” he said. “Once we do this evaluation, we can go about getting some funding.”
“This is a big deal,” he said. “I am excited about this. We need it.”
The commission also okayed the installation of a water line along Holly Drive and between FM 487 and Donnie Ray.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.