Solid waste grants approved

.COLDSPRING -- Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) Board breezed through a short agenda at its March meeting in Coldspring. The board acted on the recommendation of DETCOG’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee and approved three full and one partial solid waste program grants for FY 2012. The City of Woodville was awarded $14,200, and the City of Center was awarded $13,500 for the purchase of recycling trailers. Jasper County was awarded $16,000 for the purchase of a pickup truck to be used in its solid waste and recycling programs. The City of Crockett also received partial funding of its grant application. The funds for the regional solid waste program come from a small tipping fee charged at landfills. In other business, DETCOG Executive Director Walter Diggles reported that the General Land Office (GLO) had approved DETCOG’s Hurricane Ike Recovery Round 2.2 application for its housing assistance program. Diggles said that GLO is currently drawing up the contract. The board approved the purchase of an additional three manufactured housing units for DETCOG region families under its Round 1 Hurricane Ike Recovery program. In a follow up from last month’s meeting in Crockett, Diggles announced that several meetings had been held in the region concerning the state’s Medicaid 1115 Waiver. Under the waiver, participating Rural Healthcare Partnerships (RHP) are eligible to receive 60 cents from the federal government for every 40 cents its members contribute. Counties in the DETCOG Region have an interest in the program because of their statutory obligations to indigent care and mental health. So far no decisions have been made concerning the formation of RHP’s that are to be anchored by either a lead health-care provider or local government entity to implement the new Medicaid programs; however, the deadline for formation of the RHP’s is rapidly approaching.