BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, S.C. — Federal money is flowing in Batesburg-Leesville after the town council approved a resolution this week deciding what their $2.7M of American Rescue Plan Act funds will be spent on.
This is the money Batesburg-Leesville has as a result of the impacts of COVID-19.
Right now the town has received half this amount and is ready to spend it.
"We have a number of needs and things that need to be fixed to keep rain water and storm water from entering our sewer system and going to our sewer plant," Ted Luckadoo, town manager said.
Water and sewer is one category for those dollars.
Another is the fire department.
Specifically, a new fire truck to replace the one it got in 1995.
"There have been some issues over the years with the truck, just general mechanical things and we were trying to get ahead of the curve before it just left us high and dry sitting there," Josh Frye, Batesburg-Leesville fire chief said.
Leaders also want to upgrade their IT infrastructure with cybersecurity protections and hire an IT employee.
And money will be given to the town’s employees based on their level of COVID-19 exposure.
"We have deemed all of our employees to be essential employees through the COVID pandemic and this allowed us to provide them with a one-time premium paycheck for their work and their exposure throughout COVID-19," Luckadoo said.
Now that Batesburg-Leesville town council has approved a resolution of their first allotment of American Rescue Plan Act funds, they can start spending that money as soon as the end of this week.
Another consideration in the water and sewer spending plan is to replace water meters in town with an automated reading system.