By Staff
If you thought gas prices were high, try getting stuck with the bill for paving roads.
Escambia County commissioners will likely be seeking $400,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for paving county roads.
Grant writers have determined that at least 18 miles of county roads need repaving - but not even all of those will likely meet the strict criteria for the grant funding.
What's important to note is that those grant writers - Susan and Ken Towry of the Towry Agency - will be the ones who use state specifications to determine which roads will best qualify for repaving using grant funds.
The politicians get to stay out of it, a wise course of action during an election year.
As commissioner Wiley Tait said, &#8220We don't want the citizens to think we are handpicking” the roads to be paved.
We're glad the county is leaving these decisions up to grant writers.
If the county receives the grant - which will be announced in August - it will need to put up another $100,000 in matching funds through in-kind work.
That makes a half-million dollars just for a small portion of county roads to be repaved.
Those gas bills are looking better and better.