County to apply for $5M CDBG disaster-recovery grant for Indian Springs roads; HUD earmark funds local CDL training

Polk County commissioners approved submission of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster-recovery application to the Texas General Land Office for road repairs in the Indian Springs subdivision and authorized the county judge to act as the county’s executive officer on the application.

County staff said the court had previously prioritized Indian Springs, followed by Holiday Lakes, and that the GLO invited the county to apply for one project. Projects can be awarded up to $5 million and require a 5% local match (for a $5 million award, a $250,000 match). County staff estimated roughly 9.5 miles of county-maintained road in Indian Springs and provided an engineering-style scope that includes base improvements, resurfacing, culverts and driveway turnouts; staff and the county’s grant administrator reported door-to-door low‑to‑moderate-income beneficiary surveys had been collected to support eligibility.

Separately, the court noted a $318,000 federal allocation the meeting described as a HUD earmark to establish a local commercial driver’s license (CDL) training facility. The county said that because the award was an allocation, it was not a competitive grant; county officials thanked Congressman Morel Latrell and cited collaboration with Dr. Ben Stafford at Lamar Institute of Technology, which will run operations locally. County staff said there was no local match requirement for the CDL allocation and that the facility would reduce the need for residents to travel out of county for CDL training.

Court action: Commissioners voted to proceed with the CDBG application and authorized the county judge to sign required documents for submission and to work with the county’s grant administrator. The clerk and county staff will continue beneficiary-survey outreach to meet the GLO’s requirements.

Why it matters: A successful CDBG award would provide material road repairs for a rural subdivision with an eligible low‑to‑moderate-income population; the CDL facility earmark aims to strengthen local workforce training for truck and school-district drivers without a local match.

Next steps: The county will complete the CDBG application and the judge will execute submission documents as the county’s authorized representative; staff will return with grant award outcomes and any needed budget or match requests.