CullmanTimes.com - Cullman, Alabama

Top News

Discussion

April 28, 2008

Holly Pond to discuss sewer grant

By Trent Moore

trentm@cullmantimes.com



HOLLY POND — Holly Pond Mayor Paul Barnett said he hopes residents will come to the town hall Monday, May 5 for a public hearing to discuss efforts to upgrade Holly Pond’s sewer system.

The system has been in operation since 1985 and has never been upgraded.

“Everything is working all right now, but the system is beginning to show its age,” Barnett said.

The hearing is being held specifically to discuss the town’s intent to apply for a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to pay for sewer system upgrades.

Upgrades would include adding a second clarifier to the town’s facilities, so they would have an extra in case the first one malfunctions, and also replacing sewer lines that are starting to deteriorate.

Barnett said the town has been trying to get work started on these upgrades for over three years.

“I’ve been to Washington and spoken with Representative Aderholt about this, but we haven’t been able to get anything accomplished yet,” Barnett said. “So now we are trying to get a grant to fund some of the work.”

The maximum amount of money Holly Pond could be awarded from the grant is $400,000, and the town has estimated that close to $450,000 will be required to complete the first upgrades.

“We’re trying to get the grant so that we can get things started,” Barnett said. “Depending on how the grant turns out, we will try and figure out the appropriations for what is left.”

Though the clarifier and sewer line upgrades are hefty undertakings, Mayor Barnett said they are only the first two steps in a larger plan for Holly Pond’s sewage system.

“Those are the first two phases, and the most important for right now, but there are a few more things we would really like to get done sometime in the future,” Barnett said.

The further upgrades would add a new pumping station to the system, and extend the lines to include new areas.

Another move that Barnett would like to make is eventually changing their sanitation system from a chlorine system to a more efficient ultraviolet (UV) system.

The total estimated cost for all of the upgrades would total close to $1 million.

The grant application is due in late May, and Barnett said he hopes to know by September how the grant application was received.

If the funds can be assembled, work could begin on the upgrades as early as next summer, Barnett said. The assembly is set for 7 p.m., and will act as the Holly Pond town council meeting for May.



Text Only
Top News