DeKalb Utility District (DUD) commissioners approved a measure Thursday to apply for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to extend water lines in some unserviced areas of the county. The resolution was adopted by the county commission in January.
DUD attorney Keith Blair told the board at last week’s monthly meeting that the resolution was prepared.
“There is another CDBG project that has been applied for,” Blair said. “We have a resolution that I need you to enter a motion on and to approve. It's basically for the DUD to provide matching funds for the 2014 Community Development Block Grant application. This pertains to the Tramel Branch, Dismal to Alexandria, Oakley Road, Carter Lane, and Old Givens Hollow area. The CDBG funds are in the amount of $500,000 and the district's portion of matching funds would be $96,000. The resolution also references a cooperative agreement which defines the relationship between the parties on this project. It also sets forth that once the project is complete that the district will take over the lines. It employs Goodwyn, Mills Cawood and Company as the engineers, and Grassroots Planning and Consulting for all administrative services for the project.”
The board voted unanimously to approve the resolution.
Grant Administrator Amanda Mainord of Grassroots Planning and Consulting told the county commission at their January meeting that 38 homes on Tramel Branch, Oakley Road, Carter Lane, Old Givens Hollow, and the Dismal to Alexandria Road will receive service when the project is complete.
“There are six houses left to complete the water line on Tramel Branch and that's just a half mile left there,” Mainford said. “On Old Givens Hollow, there are nine houses there within a mile and three tenths. The Alexandria to Dismal and the first part of Oakley Road, there are actually 13 houses there, and that is within 2.6 miles. There is kind of a spot on Oakley Road where I call no man's land, because there is one house in a whole mile, so we're going to leave that. It's not cost effective to run a water line to serve one person or one household. To start at the other end of Oakley Road and go on to Carter Lane, there are ten houses there, and that's just a mile and eight tenths.”
The grant application is due by the end of February.