ARPA funding reallocated for Robstown's First United Methodist Church

The First United Methodist Church has stood in Robstown since the early 1900s, and due to safety concerns closed its doors in 2014.

In June, KRIS 6 News reported the the church was being allocated $750,000 in ARPA funds by Nueces County Commissioner for Precinct Three John Marez. The funds were meant to go toward restoring the church, including the cost of architectural and engineering services.

The plan for the restored church would be for a food pantry, child care services, and job opportunities.

Richard Gillespie

However, after the counties consulting firm 'Grant Works" oversaw the project, it was deemed a 'high risk", due to an issue with government requirements and documents. As a result, the ARPA funding was pulled away from the church restoration and will be reallocated in the future.

“We are still getting requests from the federal government on COVID-related things from 5 years ago. We are still getting requests on needing documentation and support material. That was part of the problem with this, with the long term and the monitoring that made it go into the high-risk category,” Nueces County Judge Connie Scott said.

Grant Works is now involved in any new projects, or projects that aren't already ongoing. Due to the project being deemed 'high risk' by the consulting firm, the county would potentially have to pay the ARPA funds if they moved forward with the project.

The due date for where the funds will be allocated is December 2024, but whatever the new project is, they need to be used to complete the project by December 2026.

For the latest local news updates, click here , or download the KRIS 6 News App.