MONTGOMERY— Gov. Robert Bentley has awarded Community Development Block Grants totaling $565,000 to improve streets in Blount County and rehabilitate old, cracked sewer lines in Blountsville.
“These Community Development Block Grants will complete projects that will help improve the lives of many in Blount County,” Bentley said. “I am happy to assist in providing essential services in rural areas of the state that desperately need repairs and upgrades to their sewer lines.”
The Town of Blountsville will use a $350,000 grant to rehabilitate a 67-year-old sewer system serving 36 homes on Page, Lee, Ashley, Walnut and Chestnut streets as well as Alabama Highway 231. The existing sewer lines will be rehabbed using a cured-in-place method to seal up damaged areas by installing new lining into the existing pipes. The project also will repair deficient manholes by applying a new waterproof surface coating. The town has committed $50,000 in matching funds to the project.
A $215,000 grant will help Blount County resurface from a section of Huffstutler Road in Oneonta. County officials said the road is deteriorating in many places which can be damaging to vehicles and dangerous for drivers. The county is committing $58,360 in matching funds to the project.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“ADECA is always partnering with local leaders to improve the quality of life in our communities, and there is no better example of that than the Community Development Block Grant program,” ADECA Director Jim Byard Jr. said. “This year, ADECA received 108 applications for projects that support economic and community development. We awarded 54 projects totaling $17.5 million in investments. I am pleased of the projects chosen this year, especially these in Blount County.”
ADECA administers an array of programs that support law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.
Bentley informed Blountsville Mayor Michael Glass and Blount County Commission Chairman Chris Green that the grants had been approved. Byard presented the letter from the governor to Chairman Green and other members of the County Commission today in Montgomery.
For an overview of the CDBG program in Alabama, see this video: https://youtu.be/GL51Tk73my0.
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Contact: Russell Sellers, Mike Presley