City of Osceola Awarded $200,000 Mississippi County Infrastructure Grant

pictured, from left: Mississippi County Public Affairs Director Tom Henry, Justice Harbans Mangat, Osceola Mayor Joe Harris, Jr. and Justice Michael White

On June 20, 2023, the Government of Mississippi County, Arkansas, announced it has awarded $200,000 to the City of Osceola, Arkansas, through its Mississippi County Infrastructure Grant Program. The funding is to be used to partially fund the survey, testing and repair of key parts of the City of Osceola’s storm drainage system.

The city will map the oldest part of the water system, concentrated in the eastern section of Osceola. The city will conduct the survey and testing with the assistance of a camera to best determine where the biggest issues are and/or whether those issues are due to line penetration or internal blockages.

The city’s application states that the most impoverished part of the community is the most affected by poor stormwater drainage. There, the system is older, the water drains more slowly, and the quality-of-life problems associated with lingering standing water are heightened.

“I am very pleased that we can assist the City of Osceola with this project. It will ultimately not only improve the quality of life for many residents of Mississippi County, but also save the city much expense, over time, in locating and identifying the proper repairs that are needed within the older portions of their network,” County Judge John Alan Nelson said.

“I want to thank the County and the County Judge’s Office of Mississippi County for their hard work. The County Judge has knowledge of what the problems are in south Mississippi County, and he always tries to help meet our needs when we’ve asked. We do have a problem with stormwater and this money will be very helpful to the City of Osceola and will be well spent. We very much appreciate it and again we want to thank the County and the County Judge for their hard work getting us these funds,” said Mayor Joe Harris, Jr.

On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law. Among many other provisions, ARPA provides direct funding to each county in the United States through what is called the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund (CLFRF). Mississippi County, Arkansas received $7,895,980 and has designated $2 million to fund the “Mississippi County Infrastructure Grant Program.”

The Mississippi County Infrastructure Grant Program will fund innovative, effective infrastructure projects designed to address the County's infrastructure needs. Each grant will provide up to $200,000 for cities/towns within Mississippi County and can only be used for infrastructure projects pursuant to Arkansas Constitution, Article 12, Section 5 as incorporated into Article 12 by Amendment 97. These grants will fund up to 75% of project costs, with 25% cost matched by the applicant municipality.

Only Mississippi County towns/cities were eligible for the grant and the funding allocated by Mississippi County for this grant program may be used to assist with Infrastructure project planning or implementation with a priority for projects that address areas of greatest need and serve those most at-risk. The following are types of projects eligible under this program: land acquisition, site preparation, rail spur construction, water service, wastewater treatment, employee training and equipment, environmental mitigation and training, and research facilities and the necessary equipment.

An informative workshop was held on Friday, April 7 where the cities were invited to learn about the grant and ask questions. Applications were received from eight cities and were “scored” by iParametrics, the county’s ARPA consultant based on application metrics. 

For more information, visit the County website at http://www.mississippicounty.ar.org/.