There’s $2.8 million in federal grant funds earmarked for repairs at Gladewater’s ‘high hazard’ dam, and another $900,000 is on the table for related work.
“We still have to go through the full Appropriations Committee, but we are keeping Gladewater in a strong position,” Lone Star Consulting’s Steve Hoffman reported in his latest grant rundown.
The current funding for the dam includes $2.4 million in FEMA funding secured last year in coordination with Congressman Nathaniel Moran. The money’s not in the coffers yet, courtesy of controversies at the national level, but the latest timeline anticipates availability in September. Another $400,000 for the dam is coming from an EPA WaterTech Grant, fully funding pre-engineering (up to the design phase) and environmental for the project out at Lake Gladewater.
Hoffman’s agency has also submitted for a U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Roads grant, a $125,000 request to develop a local Transportation Plan using DOT funding. (The community previously received a Safe Streets for All grant.)
There’s a litany of additional grants in the works, Mayor Brandy Flanagan-Shipp noted last week, an ongoing effort to supplement local resources with outside dollars.
Working grants range from an Animal Shelter application ($200,000) to Wastewater Treatment Plant funding (a $2.2 million loan with 100 percent forgiveness) to grants for firefighting equipment ($120,000) and staffing (paid by FEMA for three years).
There’s also a disaster grant tied to Snowmageddon ($2.7 million for road work and drainage via hazard mitigation projects or generate jobs in the private sector). Brandy Wynn, the city’s library director and grant writer, is collecting local reports and data tied to damage from that 2021 Texas freeze.
A USDA Rural Development grant could help fund construction on public buildings (such as a fire/police station or public works structure): “When ready, we recommend requesting in the $3.2 million range,” Hoffman wrote in his rundown, available online at GladewaterMirror.com. “Funds are in the form of a loan with 70%-90% loan forgiveness.”
Granted, the City of Gladewater may not be able to pursue all the loan opportunities considering some require matching funds and local budget limitations are an ongoing reality.
“A lot of this stuff will be discussed around budget time,” the mayor noted. “Infrastructure is something we’ll always be going for.”