The Cole County Commission finalized agreements Tuesday with Wardsville, Russellville and St. Thomas to help fund infrastructure projects.
The commission awarded the cooperative funding for projects in five small communities in the county last month and already has signed agreements with St. Martins and Centertown.
The projects that received funding include:
- Wardsville was awarded $75,000 to do a conceptual study of safety improvements at the routes B/M/W intersection.
- St. Thomas was awarded $55,000 to install school zone flashers on Route B and make sidewalk improvements on National Street.
- Russellville was awarded $220,000 for reconstruction of Marion Street, including sidewalk work.
- St. Martins was awarded $250,000 for Business 50 pedestrian safety improvements and overlay work.
- Centertown was awarded $200,000 for drainage, and street and sidewalk improvements on Route NN, and Main and Monroe streets.
In January, the County Commission announced the cooperative project funding guidelines for the communities to get part of $800,000 in the county's half-cent capital improvement sales tax to be used for "substantial improvements." There will be $400,000 this year and $400,000 next year.
This money could be used for any road and bridge-related project, including stormwater improvements or sidewalk and intersection improvements. The maximum funding per project was $250,000.
The Cole County Road and Bridge Advisory Committee members ranked the projects, and the commission awarded funds based on those rankings.
County officials said the decisions were based on the communities having a realistic time for completion of the projects, plans for cost increases and inflation, and a plan for long-term maintenance. The communities must start their projects within two years of the commission's signing the agreements.
Each of the seven small communities in Cole County - including Lohman and Taos - receives $100,000 in sales tax funds during the five-year period of the tax, generally used for overlaying of streets.