Trending
MARSHALL -- The Wheels Across the Prairie Museum adds a lot to the community of Tracy and helps preserve area history, Tracy city representatives said this week. But two things the museum doesn't have are city water and sewer access.
City and museum representatives made a request Tuesday for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to help run a water line out to the museum. County commissioners approved $20,000 in ARPA funds for the water line, as well as $15,000 from county contingency funds to put in a bigger septic tank at the museum.
"The museum is an integral part of what we offer as a city," Tracy Community Development Director Jeff Carpenter told commissioners. However, Carpenter and Ken Witt said the facility was in need of water and sewer services to help make it a better place for both volunteers and visitors.
Volunteers currently need to pump and haul water to the museum grounds in order to care for the gardens there, Witt said.
Carpenter said the city of Tracy agreed that $20,000 of the county ARPA funds allocated for the city could go to Wheels Across the Prairie for a water line. Extending municipal sewer service out to the museum wouldn't be possible due to cost, but they could install a larger septic tank, he said. The cost of that tank would be about $15,000.
Witt said the museum was requesting financial assistance from the county for the septic project.
Commissioner Rick Anderson said so far, the city of Tracy had not received any of the county ARPA money set aside for Lyon County cities.
"This would actually be their first request," he said.
Last spring, commissioners divided up a total of $1.9 million in ARPA funding to be used for 11 cities in Lyon County, and set aside a total of $260,000 for ambulance services. Since then, several area cities have received funds for infrastructure projects, as well as requests for ambulance equipment and a new county-wide emergency radio system.
Commissioners voted to allocate up to $20,000 in ARPA funding for a water system at the Wheels Across the Prairie Museum. In a separate vote, they also decided to allocate $15,000 out of county contingency funds for septic system updates at the museum.
Wheels Across the Prairie was "a great asset" to Lyon County, Anderson said. The museum in Tracy complements the Lyon County Museum in Marshall by covering different aspects of area history, he said.
The city of Tracy may come back to the county board in the future with other ARPA funding requests. Carpenter said the city was working on a plan on how to use the rest of the ARPA dollars set aside for the community.