Despite degrading water quality, severely compromised wastewater treatment plant and a failed stormwater management plant, Jamestown was left out of a recipient pool in which towns across North Carolina received hundreds of millions of dollars for water and sewer infrastructure projects.
The awards are funded by a portion of $2.3 billion from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, State Revolving Funds (including Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds), and Community Development Block Grant funding.
It was done through the NC General Assembly’s 2023 Appropriations Act, and the NCDEQ is administering the grants. Here’s the list of recipients, and what they’re using the money for (it’s a slideshow – swipe left or tap on the arrows to scroll through):
Eighty-three percent (83%) of the projects are in districts represented exclusively by Republicans in the General Assembly. Some lawmakers said they were unclear about the selection process, but the NCDEQ website implies on this page that all a local government had to do was “apply” for some of this water and infrastructure grant giveaway.
Greensboro got $7 million. Randolph County, where our drinking water reservoir (Randleman/PTRWA) is located, got $85 million, and the City of Randleman, in Randolph County, got $5.15 million.
JAMESTOWN GOT NOTHING.
The NC DEQ has a page on its website with info for local governments HERE.
It’s all part of the state’s infrastructure water fund, and the annual report was just released. Flip to page 170 and you’ll see how towns across the state are using these funds to pay for pump stations, lift stations, buffer restoration, manholes, sewer pipelines and odor control systems – not by raising property taxes and fees.
One of the three main sections on the NC DEQ funding sources web page is dedicated to ARPA grants, with a link to an 8-page document that describes the plan for administering the appropriated State Fiscal Recovery Fund as grants for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater projects.
It states that ARPA funds are to be used for: DRINKING WATER, WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER PROJECTS:
This 8-page document also goes into detail about the availability of more than half a billion dollars for towns with DISTRESSED public water systems as defined in Session Law 2020-79:
“a DISTRESSED unit is a public water system or wastewater system operated by a local government unit exhibiting signs of failure to identify or address those financial or operating needs necessary to enable that system to become or to remain a local government unit generating sufficient revenues to adequately fund management and operations, personnel, appropriate levels of maintenance, and reinvestment that facilitate the provision of reliable water or wastewater services.”