City receives Community Assistance Grant

Submitted by Willspoint1 on

City Administrator Pam Pearson, Public Works Director Armando Gonzales, Mayor Mark Turner represented Wills Point as it received a $10,000 check for a grant received through the Sabine River Authority. SRA representatives present for the check presentation included J. D. Jacobs, Jeanette Sterner and Kimberly Fish.

The Sabine River Authority of Texas (SRA) was pleased to award the city of Wills Point a Community Assistance Grant on Feb. 18 as part of its FY-2016 Economic Development Initiative. The $10,000 check will be used to reimburse city funds used to replace the water meter at the city’s water intake at the Lake Tawakoni Dam.

David Montagne, SRA’s Executive Vice-President and General Manager, in a letter to the city, wrote “the city’s project to replace the water meter at its Lake Tawakoni raw water pump station is an initiative that SRA supports in its efforts to improve water and wastewater systems throughout the basin” and “SRA looks forward to working with the city in the future as we continue to focus on increasing the economic vitality of the Sabine River Basin”. 

Funds provided for the Community Assistance Grant Program must fall within four project categories, which include 1) Water Supply; 2) Wastewater Management; 3) Water Conservation; and 4) Water Quality and are limited to $10,000 per project.  Funds for the grant for the city of Wills Point were approved by SRA’s Board of Directors in December 2015.

In order to be eligible for the Community Assistance Program, applicants should be a governmental entity, district, or a non-profit, member-owned Water Supply Corporation or Sewer Service Corporation and located within the Sabine River Basin of Texas. Water resource projects should be consistent with the statutory mission of SRA.

Created as a conservation and reclamation district in 1949, responsibilities of the Sabine River Authority of Texas are to control, store, preserve and distribute the waters of the Sabine River and its tributary system for useful purposes.

The Sabine River Basin covers a large portion of East Texas with a population of over 551,000 in all of part of 21 counties according to U.S. 2010 Census figures. A large portion of that area is rural in nature.

For more information about SRA’s Community Assistance Program, contact Mary Vann at 409-746-2192 or email: cap@sratx.org.