Madison County and recipient cities report ARPA-funded projects largely on track ahead of 2026 spending deadline

City and county officials told the Madison County Board of Supervisors on July 7 that projects paid with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) subawards are largely on schedule and that most of the county’s ARPA dollars have been committed to infrastructure, broadband and recreation work.

City of Ridgeland officials said ARPA money helped expand an originally small detention-pond cleanup at Freedom Ridge Park into a larger Purple Creek basin restoration and ecotourism amenity. According to the city presentation, the Purple Creek work is funded with roughly $3.83 million in combined ARPA and matching sources plus a $1 million outdoor stewardship trust match; contractors had completed pond excavation and culvert work and expected planting to begin this fall or winter. Ridgeland also reported moving forward on Colony Park Boulevard water and sewer improvements with a county ARPA subaward of $2 million and related state appropriations; the project was bid and awarded to Hemphill Construction for $2,496,000 and is intended to extend sewer service, eliminate one or more lift stations and improve water-flow capacity for fire protection.

City of Madison officials told the board their city used county ARPA subawards across four projects. The Hearne Creek flood‑mitigation work is complete except for a small punch list; Liberty Park dugout and concession‑stand roofs were replaced rather than repaired after bids came in higher than expected; Kingsbridge Road was paved; and an upgraded Cotton Hill well pump and control system was installed after a failure last summer.

County staff summarized Madison County’s ARPA portfolio. The county’s first broadband phase — concentrated in the northeast part of the county — is contracted to reach about 3,700 additional premises. County staff said a small county ARPA contribution (about $200,000) is expected to be folded into a larger Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project to leverage federal dollars and that larger flood‑control and recreation projects (including a $5 million allocation for a Bozeman project and the Sulphur Springs softball field) are in construction or nearing completion. County staff reported total county ARPA allocations at about $20.6 million and said the projects are “on track” to meet the federal December 2026 spending deadline.

Board members asked for periodic updates; city presenters said they expected to return with progress reports in two to three months. No formal board action was required to receive the updates.

Ending: County and municipal officials asked the board to share project summaries for public posting; supervisors encouraged the cities to submit brief project status reports for the county website so residents can track ARPA-funded work.