Fire Districts, Stormwater Get Funding

By RANDY PIERCE

Fire districts and stormwater improvement projects are among the many recipients of American Rescue Plan Act funds being disseminated by Madison County.

Receiving a $60,000 share each from the Madison County allotment of ARPA grant money to help cover operational expenditures are 25 fire districts including those covering Collinsville, Glen Carbon, St. Jacob Township and Troy along with others throughout the county for a grand total of $1.5 million. 

The grant support covers a period from March 3, 2021, through the end of fiscal year 2024, the retroactive time period designated for shortfall costs incurred then by the districts resulting from the coronavirus pandemic which had severely reduced sales tax income for all such government entities when retail shopping ground to a halt during times of lockdown.   

Along with a resolution approving the payment of ARPA money to the fire districts which was passed unanimously at the September meeting of the county board, an additional total of $8,082,250 was designated for 11 local government units to use in improving their capabilities to handle excess water flow resulting from rainfall.

Structured within a similar time frame as what was utilized for the fire districts, the specific amounts freed up for the stormwater projects include $250,000 – Collinsville Township, $718,250 – Village of Maryville, $235,000 – City of Troy, $212,500 – Village of Glen Carbon among others.

The source of this support, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, was passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.