Gaston County approves transfer of ARPA funds for two waterline projects

Adam Gobb, Gaston County communications director, said the county has more than $43,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds and that the board approved transferring unused funds from some projects to two waterline projects.

Gobb described the projects as: one to connect Tryon Elementary, Tryon Park and the surrounding community to municipal water service; the other to connect water service between the towns of Dallas and High Shoals. He added that, "For these projects, we're using the federal money to build out the needed upgrades to the system and then turning them over to the local city run utility providers." The transcript did not specify exact transfer amounts or a vote tally in the narration provided.

The county clarified the scope of its role: Gaston County will finance and construct needed infrastructure with federal ARPA dollars, then hand the improvements over to city-run utilities for ongoing operation. The projects are described as part of efforts to extend municipal water to growing areas in the southern end of the county. The board's action was portrayed in the meeting summary as an approval to reallocate unused project funds toward these waterline connections; details about implementation timelines and exact funding allocations were not specified in the summary video.