$18.7 million in grants awarded to help Alabama communities

Governor Kay Ivey announced Wednesday that she has awarded $18.7 million in grants to help improve 58 Alabama communities.

The funds from the Community Development Block Grant program will enable communities to provide water, improve roads and sewage systems, construct public community buildings and remove blight.

“Community Development Block Grants are vital to Alabama communities wanting to raise living standards and improve living conditions for their residents,” Ivey said in a statement. “I am pleased to award these grants, and I commend all those local leaders who, by seeking these grants, show they have their communities at heart.”

The competitive grants are awarded annually in an array of categories including county, large city, small city and community enhancement. The grants, made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

Areas of Alabama receiving grants include:

North Alabama

• Cullman (City) – $450,000 to provide sewer, water, drainage and street improvements in the Katherine Street area.
• Guntersville – $450,000 to provide street and drainage improvements in the East Lake community.
• Hackleburg – $85,000 to provide improvements along four streets, including widening and paving or sealing.
• Hanceville – $250,000 to build a 2,500-square-foot senior center.
• Leighton – $350,000 to provide water line improvements at several locations.
• Scottsboro– $208,958 to demolish and clear 25 deteriorated and dilapidated structures throughout the city.
• Town Creek – $350,000 to upgrade and repairs sections of the town’s sewer system.

North Central Alabama

• Ashland– $350,000 to provide road and drainage improvements and water upgrades.
• Blount County – $350,000 to improve three roads totaling eight miles north of Blountsville.
• Childersburg– $450,000 to improve sewer services in the Coosa Court and Childersburg/Fayetteville Highway areas.
• Clanton – $239,400 to demolish and clear 28 dilapidated and vacant houses.
• Fayette County – $250,000 to improve water lines and provide road resurfacing in an area west of the town of Belk.
• Heflin– $40,000 to help the city develop a plan that will assess needs and goals.
• Marion County – $350,000 to provide public water service in the Bexar Church area.
• Millport – $203,315 to upgrade one the town’s three water tanks serving 340 persons.
• Oneonta – $450,000 to replace deteriorating sewer lines and collection system in an area involving sections of Hillcrest Circle and Underwood and Valley avenues.
• Pell City – $450,000 to improve the efficiency of the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
• Reform– $350,000 to renovate and repair various sections of the town’s sewer lines.
• Steele – $189,977 to raze and remove 15 dilapidated structures throughout the town.
• Sylacauga – $250,000 to demolish 11 dilapidated structures throughout the city.
• Tuscaloosa County – $235,990 to provide public water service benefitting 63 residents in the Evanstown Road and Sid Davis Road areas.
• Weaver – $122,628 to raze and clear 11 dilapidated and unsafe structures throughout the city.

South Central Alabama

• Camp Hill – $350,000 for sewer improvements at the town’s wastewater plant.
• Dallas County – $350,000 to supply public water service connections to residents in the Bogue Chitto community.
• Hayneville – $349,601 to make improvements on sewer lines and wastewater treatment facility.
• Forkland – $350,000 to upgrade water lines and improve two streets.
• Greensboro– $350,000 to improve sewer lines.
• Lanett – $250,000 to complete the final phase of a downtown revitalization project.
• Marengo County – $350,000 to pave five roads.
• Marion (City) – $450,000 to improve its wastewater treatment plant.
• Millbrook – $250,000 to construct a new senior citizen center.
• New Site – $177,460 to renovate its senior citizen center.
• Perry County – $350,000 to provide public water services to 145 residents south of the city of Marion.
• Randolph County – $350,000 to provide public water services to 78 residents along two county roads east of the city of Roanoke.
• Tallapoosa County – $350,000 to provide public water services in a rural area near Dadeville.
• Tallassee – $250,000 to demolish 27 vacant, abandoned and dilapidated structures throughout the city.
• Valley – $450,000 to improve sewer services in the Langdale Mill Village area.

Southeast Alabama

• Abbeville – $350,000 to provide full or partial rehabilitation of up to 27 houses in the Stegall Heights area.
• Brundidge – $350,000 to improve water services and demolish 13 residential and commercial structures.
• Clayhatchee– $127,288 to resurface a section of Providence Lane and improve drainage.
• Dale County – $308,700 to provide public water to 42 households along Dale County Road 21 and Penny Point Road.
• Geneva– $450,000 to improve drainage in a local neighborhood.
• Gordon – $349,787 to provide water and sewer improvements at various locations within the city.
• Goshen – $325,000 to upgrade the town’s water lines and improve water quality.
• Kinston – $350,000 to rehabilitate up to 20 occupied houses and bring them up to compliance with the Southern Building Code.
• Level Plains – $250,000 to provide street and drainage improvements along Faith Street and Phyllis Avenue.
• Opp – $450,000 to provide sewer system line improvements along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive from Cannon Drive to Hardin Street.

Southwest Alabama

• Brewton – $450,000 to renovate or replace dilapidated sewer lines along multiple streets.
• Castleberry – $350,000 to replace aging and undersized water lines and improve streets in various sections of the town.
• Chatom – $350,000 to rehabilitate sections of the town’s sewer lines and a lift station.
• Choctaw County – $350,000 to resurface multiple roads in the northeast part of the county.
• Flomaton – $201,115 to resurface several roads within the city to reduce safety hazards.
• Loxley – $350,000 to replace aged and damaged sewer lines along the east part of town.
• Monroeville – $450,000 to replace sewer lines along multiple streets on the west part of the city.
• Pennington – $350,000 to resurface 5.5 miles of road in various locations within the city.
• Repton – $350,000 to improve drainage and improve streets at various locations within the city.
• Robertsdale – $450,000 to replace sewer lines and improve drainage at various locations.
• Silas – $350,000 to improve drainage and resurface streets at several locations within the city.

“As a former mayor, I know how valuable these grants are to communities and I also realize the time and effort that local leaders, planners and residents invest in obtaining funding,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said.

“ADECA is pleased to have a role in this process that will benefit communities all across Alabama,” he added.

Kyle Morris also contributes daily to Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @RealKyleMorris.