Cedar Bluff to receive $400,000 federal grant

By Scott Wright

CEDAR BLUFF — Cedar Bluff Mayor Martha Baker got an unexpected surprise Thursday morning: word that there is a $400,000 grant on the way that she and the Town Council can use to upgrade a portion of the town's sewage system.

“I'm speechless” she said when state Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, passed the information along to her at a Chamber of Commerce event at Little River Canyon Mouth Park Thursday morning. Lindsey found out about the grant on Wednesday and said he was glad to be the bearer of good news.

“It's a Community Development Block Grant,” Lindsey said. “That's a competitive fund that small towns in rural areas compete for every year.”

Baker said the town has been applying for the grant for three years, and came up just short of qualifying the first two times.

“We're always looking for any grant that could apply to us and this will help with our downtown revitalization project,” she explained. “This particular grant was for low- to medium-income households, and we felt like we qualified for it when we applied.”

Lindsey said it is his understanding that around 115 people in an area of Cedar Bluff between the town hall and the new Sunset Shores condominiums will benefit from the work the grant will be used to pay for.

“What brought the need to the forefront was all the problems Cedar Bluff has been having with its sewer system” he said. “They didn't want to spend any money to increase the reach of the sewage system until they felt like they had improved the efficiency of the existing system. Hopefully, these funds will allow them to do that.”

Baker agreed, and said there are sewage pipes in that area of town which are decades old and in dire need of immediate replacement.

“That area will certainly benefit from the new sewage systems, and we'll also make some street improvements and trash cleanup in the area with the money,” she said. “We'll also actually be able to use some of these funds to improve homes in that area of town.”

Lindsey said the money comes from the federal government and will have to be matched by $40,000 from the town. Once the conditions of the grant are met, Lindsey said, Cedar Bluff officials will be able to let out contracts for the work and then send in the bills for reimbursement.

Baker said the man who wrote the grant, Public Systems, Inc. President Jim Clouse, spoke with her on Friday and said he'll be in town the first week in October to go over compliance details with the Town Council.

“I'm not sure what the first step will be yet, but we will get started on this just as soon as we can,” she said. “I imagine there will be a few more steps we'll have to take before we get started.”