October 27, 2022 |
Governor Mark Gordon and other state officials who comprise the State Loan and Investment Board will meet in Cheyenne today to award $50 million federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The governor said in a statement yesterday that demand was far greater than the available funds.
The State Legislature appropriated the funding this year in Senate File 66. In all, $334.5 million in ARPA funding was spread across 31 different state programs.
The Water and Sewer infrastructure program was allocated $50 million. The application period for eligible water and sewer projects ended on August 12. According to the State Land and Investment Office, which wrote and implemented the application rules, 113 projects applied for the project. In all, $225-million dollars was requested, 4.5 times more than the $50 million allocation.
Governor Gordon said in a statement yesterday, “The sheer volume of proposals is immense. Clearly, there is interest and need that outstrips our ability to fund them all.”
Several communities in Carbon County applied for the water and sewer grants. Encampment and Saratoga scored high on the evaluation criteria matrix that was part of the application process. The matrix included categories such as whether a project was ready for bid or “shovel ready,” the amount of matching funds, population, and other criteria.
The application for Rawlins, as reported this week on Bigfoot 99, received an overall low score. The city offered only a 16 percent match on a project that was not out of the design phase and ready to go to bid.
The governor said in yesterday’s announcement additional funding opportunities are on the horizon. Rawlins Mayor Terry Weickum said earlier this week that the city will apply for another round of funding that will become available in December.
