Lampasas officials: EDC business park now one-third complete

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  • The Lampasas City Council received an update on the EDC business park in late June. FILE PHOTO
    The Lampasas City Council received an update on the EDC business park in late June. FILE PHOTO
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The Lampasas Economic Development Corp. Business Park is completed in large part, officials said in late June.

In an update last month to the Lampasas City Council, City Manager Finley deGraffenried said about 31% of the project is complete, based on expenses paid.

“This is a $2.7 million project for LEDC,” he said. “The city is not the contracting party, although we are doing a pretty extensive inspection and keeping our eyes close on this project.

“The city’s commitment to it was an allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds, which council approved at $971,000 for water and wastewater infrastructure,” deGraffenried said.

The council approved the funding for the business park roadway and utility improvement project in early February. The project includes water, drainage, sewer and roadway improvements. Gage & Cade Construction, LLC is serving as contractor for the work.

As of June 27, the contractor had earned $547,000 of the total payment, deGraffenried said. He noted that 55% of the water and wastewater infrastructure was complete.

“And that makes sense — you’ve got to put your water lines in the ground before you run your roads,” deGraffenried said.

The EDC board owns the park and sought city financial support in February. The roughly 165-acre business park is within a mile of arterial highways U.S. 281 and U.S. 190, and it has U.S. 183 frontage.

Signed into law in March 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act provided $362 billion in funding for state and local entities. Municipalities that are Community Development Block Grant recipients, such as Lampasas, received a larger share of the population-based funds, according to the National Association of Counties.

During the February meeting, EDC Board President Misti Talbert discussed the possibility of medical offices, retail spaces and entertainment businesses as options for tenants at the business park.