Photo by Cathy ChedrawiWilliamson County has listed nine projects throughout the county it plans to fund using its Community Development Block Grant allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Commissioners approved the $1.1 million in funding April 24. In Georgetown, the county plans to award $78,900 to a sidewalk improvement project along the south side of University Avenue between I-35 and Scenic Drive.
Sally Bardwell, the Williamson County CDBG grant coordinator, said the grant's purpose is to assist low- to moderate-income homes and areas.
"There's a lot of different projects, and each community uses it a way that best suites their community," she said.
Other projects that received approval include infrastructure improvement projects in Granger, Jarrell, Liberty Hill and Taylor. Habitat for Humanity Williamson County is also listed to receive $140,000 for land acquisition.
The county received a total of 20 eligible applications requesting $4.3 million in funding, and from those projects chose nine.
The projects must still go through a public comment period of 30 days, which begins May 3 and includes a public hearing. A more detailed description of the projects will then come back to Commissioners Court for approval, which will be followed by another 30-day public comment period before the list is sent to HUD.
The county also has a list of alternate projects in case some of the projects are ineligible based on the way HUD is changing how it uses census data.
