April 24, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb Utility District recently began serving 30 new customers in a portion of the county that previously did not have “city” water.
The $915,543 project was funded through a $500,000 Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Block Grant and $415,543 in funding allocated by the DeKalb Utility District.
Under the program, the DUD extended water lines to families on Tramel Branch Road, Oakley Road, Carter Lane and the Alexandria to Dismal Road.
Amanda Mainord of Grassroots Planning & Consulting, the grant administrator, briefly addressed County Mayor Tim Stribling and the County Commission Monday night to report that a public hearing was held prior to the commission meeting as part of the grant process to give the public an opportunity to comment before the project is closed. No comments were offered. However, Mainord said several of the new customers have contacted her since getting water service to express their appreciation.
“I am pleased that these residents who have needed potable water for so long are now being served thanks to this water line grant and the DUD with the support of the county commission. I have also heard from these residents who are so pleased to now have water in the area where they live. This was a successful project. And now that this project has been completed the county will be eligible to apply for the next round of CDBG grants,” said County Mayor Stribling.
“We have never had a project where the people have shown more gratitude than this one,” DUD manager Jon Foutch told WJLE Tuesday.
The DeKalb Utility District Board of Commissioners last September awarded bids to two contractors to extend water lines in the targeted areas. The board accepted a bid of $392,865 from Flo-Line Contracting of Monticello, Kentucky to do the work on Alexandria to Dismal Road and for $294,345 for the project on Carter Lane and Oakley Road. Mofield Brothers Construction of Carthage got the bid for $148,580 to extend water lines on Tramel Branch Road.
County Mayor Stribling brought the resolution to the DeKalb County Commission in January, 2016 authorizing the filing of the grant application, which was approved.
The county had applied for and been denied the grant twice before within the preceding two years. But the last time in order to improve its chances, the county asked for a little less grant money while the DeKalb Utility District committed to ante up more in its local match commitment.