EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County officials approved more than $23 million in American Rescue Plan Act spending for sewer, drinking water, stormwater projects and more.

The County Board passed 25 resolutions Wednesday night, including 11 stormwater projects totaling more than $8 million.

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Chairman Kurt Prenzler said the majority of the funding would go toward projects that will leave the biggest impact — stormwater and sanitary sewers.

“Often times when government gets money it goes towards streets and roads — the thing that people see,” Prenzler said. “What the board did was what ARPA intended. Now, the county and its local partners can make long-term investments on the ‘invisible’ infrastructure projects.’”

County Board member Chris Guy of Maryville and chair of the Finance Committee said that board members worked hard and came together for the needs of the county and communities, which isn’t always an easy thing to do.

“We maximized the benefits of these dollars for the greatest number of people,” Guy said.

Madison County received $51 million in ARPA funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury. In 2021, it spent $25.5 million on various projects including cyber security, county infrastructure, pandemic response, sanitary sewer and stormwater.

Prenzler said in 2021 the county designated $7.8 million for Long Lake stormwater and $8 million in sewer funding for the Bethalto interceptor. He said on Wednesday night the largest amount approved for a stormwater project was $2.6 million.

“Wood River Drainage and Levee District will use it to rehabilitee the Bethalto interceptor closure gates and to replace the Rand Avenue pump station in Hartford,” he said.

In April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the final letter of accreditation for the Metro East levee systems' 100-year-flood stage. Work continues on the 500-year-level as well as improvements to prevent interior (stormwater) flooding in the American bottom

“The accreditation was a major accomplishment,” Prenzler said. “We are pleased to be able to continue with projects that help the levee system and prevent stormwater flooding.”

Officials also approved $3.37 million in funding for a Starcom radio communications system, which enhances emergency communications between law enforcement and fire departments/districts throughout the county.

The county will also provide $1.5 million in funding to community fire districts for revenue replacement. Fire districts will receive up to $60,000 in costs submitted to the county under eligible ARPA revenue replacement for expenditures from March 3, 2021 to Dec. 21, 2024.

County Board member Erica Conway-Harriss of Glen Carbon said she is confident in the projects the board picked as they followed the ARPA guidelines.

“We used the funding as it was intended and chose smart projects to better protect our communities from disasters and invest in our first responders,” Conway-Harriss said.

Category

2022 Project

Cost

Facilities

Wood River Facility study

$250,000

Facilities

Generators for Administration Building/Courthouse

$500,000

Stormwater

Wood River Drainage and Levee District

$2.6 million

Stormwater

America's Central Port

$350,000

Stormwater

Collinsville Township

$250,000

Stormwater

Village of Maryville

$718,250

Stormwater

Jarvis Township

$250,000

Stormwater

City of Troy

$235,000

Stormwater

Village of Worden

$475,000

Stormwater

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Village of Glen Carbon

$212,500

Stormwater

Village of Godfrey

$2.06 million

Stormwater

City of Edwardsville

$823,000

Stormwater

Village of Williamson

$100,000

Sewer

Village of Maryville

$1.36 million

Drinking Water

Village of Glen Carbon

$662,500

Drinking Water

Village of Maryville

$840,650

Revenue Replacement

Community Fire Districts

$1.5 million

Revenue Replacement

County Highway-- Fuel tank replacement

$250,000

Revenue Replacement

Rural economic broadband

$2 million

Revenue Replacement

County Clerk --record digitization

$500,000

Revenue Replacement

Circuit Clerk --record digitization

$500,000

Public Health

Starcom Radio system

$3.73 million

Medical

Madison County group health plan

$1 million

Public Sector Workforce

Circuit Court (Judiciary) backlog

$400,000

Aid to Tourism

Great Rivers & Route sports tourism

$750,000

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