Using federal funding that will cover 100 percent of the cost, a large-scale road improvement project is under way that will affect at least nine of Texas County’s 17 townships.
Under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Disaster Recovery Jobs Program, federal funds became available in Missouri following the Joplin tornado last May.
Texas County became eligible for the some of the money, because when it became available, Gov. Jay Nixon sent out word that any county in the state that received FEMA funds after last spring’s extensive flooding also qualified for the debris removal program.
The project is being overseen by the Workforce Investment Board office in West Plains, and workers are selected through a screening process done by the Career Centers of Missouri branch in West Plains.
In Texas County, the board has hired more than 40 workers, who will be split into crews of four to six. Many workers are in-county residents, while others live in other nearby counties, but all have qualified through the Career Center system.
For the duration of the project, workers will make improvements on hundreds of miles of county back roads, including clearing ditching, unplugging blocked tinhorns and culverts, and removing trees and brush encroaching from the side. Equipment has even been procured to eliminate large rocks that protrude in the middle of roadways.
The federal money funneled into the program will literally cover every expense incurred, from employee wages, to equipment purchases and rental, to the last dime’s worth of chainsaw fuel. Vehicles are being furnished to shuttle back and forth from each township’s shed, and at least one township will have the temporary use of a dump truck.
Texas County Presiding Commissioner Fred Stenger said he found out about the program last April and had been working on securing funding until recently.
“This is a great program, and a great opportunity for us because it costs the county and county residents nothing,” Stenger said.
Through the hiring of workers, the purchasing of about $18,000 worth of equipment and fuel, the leasing of other equipment, and other financial considerations, the project is expected to inject more than $500,000 into Texas County’s economy.
The program period will last six months, but can be renewed up to three times. That means that should the program last the maximum of 24 months, it will have given Texas County a boost of more than $2 million.
An employee has been hired who will be stationed in the Texas County Administrative Center for the duration of the program. Her task will mainly be acting as a connection between the Workforce Investment Board and the Texas County Commission, and to coordinate daily procedures and operations with crew point men.
While debris removal program work has yet to begin in most participating townships, a five-man crew began work in Cass Township more than two weeks ago (including men from Houston, Raymondville, Mountain Grove, Willow Springs and West Plains).
Cass President Jack Watson is also chairman of the advisory board that works between the county commission and the townships. When he heard about the debris removal program, he realized it was something unusually good.
“When Fred called me about it, I said, ‘it sounds too good to be true,’ ” Watson said. “Fred said ‘that’s what I thought, but I can’t find anything wrong.’
“So I said let’s find out more about it and go for it. Fred has done a great job of putting this together. He really went after it hard.”
In addition to much-needed roadway improvements, the county will reap other benefits from the program. When it’s over, participating townships will be allowed to keep all equipment costing less than $5,000 that was purchased.
“The rakes, the shovels, the picks, the fuel cans, the chainsaws and the boxes they’re carried in, and everything else – it’s all ours,” Watson said. “It’s kind of hard to believe.
“They kept telling me all this and I said, ‘there’s a catch to it somewhere.’ But there isn’t; we just don’t come into programs like this.”
A review will take place in five months to determine whether there will be a first renewal period. If the program goes for another six months, workers from the first period will be out and an entirely new set will be hired.
“They’re trying to give as many people as possible a job,” Watson said.
Whether it lasts six, 12, 18, or 24 months, Watson plans to take advantage.
“Our township is in it for the duration,” he said. “If we can get free help for 24 months, I’m all for it. These townships can barely survive now, and that’s one heck of a shot in the arm.
“And I’ve always heard that a dollar turns over seven times in the county before it leaves the county. So if that’s the case, with $2 million being generated by this program, think of how many people that’s helping.”
Several debris removal program positions are still available in Texas County. Interested people are encouraged to call Liz Lancaster at the Career Center in West Plains at 417-256-3158.
Texas County townships participating in the program include Cass, Clinton, Jackson, Lynch, Morris, Ozark, Roubidoux, Sargent and Upton. Townships that opted not to be involved in the zero-expenses program will likely have the chance to get on board should it be extended.
“I think when the other townships find out more about this, they’ll be interested in becoming involved,” Watson said. “We’ve never had anything like this come along before, and to think that there are townships that aren’t doing it blows my mind.
“It’s a great program.”