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Quorum Court committee forwards $500,000 appropriation for Emergency Operations Center to full court
Summary
The Washington County Quorum Court Finance and Budget Committee on April (meeting date not specified) voted to forward to the full quorum court an ordinance appropriating $500,000 from unappropriated reserves in the general fund to the Emergency Operations Center construction budget for 2025.
The Washington County Quorum Court Finance and Budget Committee on April (meeting date not specified) voted to forward to the full quorum court an ordinance appropriating $500,000 from unappropriated reserves in the general fund to the county's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) construction project budget for 2025.
Comptroller Sherman told the committee the current project cost is $8,800,000 and that about $6,850,000 will come from ARPA funds while roughly $1.9–2.0 million is expected to come from the general fund. “So far, we spent about $3,000,000 in ARPA,” Sherman said. He said the $500,000 appropriation is needed now because some vendor activity must be reported against nonfederal funding in the county accounting portal.
Sherman and others described the project as about a month ahead of schedule and under budget. Commissioner Johnson was identified by staff as the official overseeing construction; Sherman said contingency funds are being actively managed. “Were not being coy by the money were saving…were operating in the contingency of the budget,” Sherman told the committee.
Committee members asked whether grant funding remains an option. County staff said grant windows had closed or been reduced and that earlier efforts, including work with Congressman Steve Womack's office, did not yield community project funding for the project. Staff said they will continue to monitor grant opportunities, particularly for furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E), but that getting grants for work once construction is underway is difficult.
Justice of the Peace J. P. Ecki moved to send the ordinance to the full court with a due-pass recommendation; J. P. Dean seconded the motion. The committee approved the recommendation by voice vote.
Sherman and other staff agreed to provide committee members a more detailed construction update before the item returns to the full court, including what has been completed and the upcoming work on interior wiring and systems.
