Officials have entered the final stages of planning for a federally funded road project.
The project, which falls under the umbrella of SAFETEA--LU, has been in the works with the board of supervisors and the leaders of six municipalities for several years.
County Engineer Bob Eley presented the supervisors with a project file recently.
“The TEA--LU programs are here today,” Eley told the board.
The file included the municipal board minutes about the project, the county board minutes about the project and the work being requested by each town.
Beulah, Benoit, Gunnison, Mound Bayou, Pace and Shaw were the six Bolivar County municipalities approved for SAFETEA--LU funding in 2005.
The file also included an engineering report for the requested projects.
“I made four copies of each (report in the file),” said Eley. “I just need one original with the signatures of the board back to put us in line to begin engineering and construction.
“Each one is a separate board order,” he continued.
The six communities were awarded $1.4 million to share for road work.
The funding required a 20 percent match from the municipalities.
As a result, each of the six municipalities that received SAFETEA--LU money approached the board of supervisors for help.
They had to document in their board minutes approval of requesting help and a portion of municipal road tax as a way to meet the 20 percent match.
This process began over a year ago and was slowed down when the municipalities went through elections last summer.
Several of the municipalities had completely new governing bodies that needed to give their approval on the road work projects.
Now that all of the project lists have been approved, the new municipal boards have signed off and the 20 percent matching funds have been gathered through a mix of municipal funds and loans, the road work can move forward.
SAFETEA--LU stands for the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — a Legacy for Users, which was signed into its current incarnation by President George W. Bush in 2005 and funds transportation and road projects across the nation.