Columbus engineering firm says use federal money to dream big

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Dream big…that’s one way to describe an engineering firm’s take on how Columbus can use federal money.

City leaders heard from Waggoner Engineering earlier this week about its assessment for the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The firm broke down the needs into stormwater improvements, water and sewer improvements, and community development.

This ranged from improving drainage on College Street to replacing fire hydrants to a public transit system to buying more neighborhood cameras for the police department.

The overall plan had a price tag of more than 124 million dollars.

Not all of the projects would be covered by ARPA.

A lot of the money would require grants from the federal and state governments, along with agencies and from the city’s budget.