County awarded water line grant

Gov. Phil Bredesen announced earlier this month the approval of a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to assist in a water line extension project in Warren County.

The funds were provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and were allocated under a procedure authorized by the Tennessee General Assembly. County Executive Kenneth Rogers said the money will be used to provide water to a number of areas in the county which had no access previously.

The grant will be used to extend a water line to serve six target areas: Banks-Campbell, Petigap-Bates Hill, Goodbar Road, Gath-Lucky Road, H. Knight Road and Bluff Springs Road.

Rogers said the county applied for the grant early this year and it has now been approved, so he, along with Mike Green and Charles Smith of Warren Utility District, will be going to Nashville to accept a check from Bredesen.

Bredesen said these types of grants are a boon to rural communities.

“The CDBG grants provide the funding needed to maintain and update community resources and improve the overall economic and environmental health of Tennessee,” said Bredesen. “I’m glad our state can provide funding to communities like Warren County to help spur economic growth.”

Funding for the $615,000 project will include $115,000 in local matching funds.

“We couldn’t afford to do this totally through local tax dollars, but we were able to do it through a grant and extend safe drinking water to more residents in the county who couldn’t get it before,” said Rogers.

Added state Sen. Jerry Cooper, “Our community will see tremendous benefit from this grant. Our community’s leaders deserve credit for the hard work they did to secure these funds.”