Town agrees on grant pursuit
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 6, 2016 1:46 PM
PIKEVILLE -- The Pikeville Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to approve an application for an approximately $3 million federal water and sewer grant which would allow the town to finance a wastewater collection project.
The grant, offered by NC Connect, totals to $12 million, which means that only around four projects will be approved and allocated $3 million. This opportunity came after the application deadline for another grant, this one totaling $100 million, was pushed back to September.
Town engineer Trey Gurley said at the Monday board meeting that having the application ready to go quickly would benefit the town.
The grant money, if obtained, would be primarily used to fix Pikeville's aging sewer infrastructure. Pikeville has sewer lines anywhere from seven to 40 years old.
"We'd be focusing mainly on those older lines." Gurley said. "When you have lines that old, they let more water into your pipes, which then sends more flow to your treatment plant."
Gurley said that Pikeville has a strong chance of getting the grant money. In addition to meeting the basic requirements laid out by NC Connect, Pikeville is also currently under a Special Order by Consent (SOC) which requires them to take action towards fixing their sewage problems. This, Gurley said, helps qualify Pikeville since the grant money would allow the town to do just that.
Town administrator Michael Hunt said that he also believes Pikeville has a good shot at getting the money, but recognized that it's not a guarantee.
"We believe we should be at the top of the heap," he said, "But there are probably 50 other communities who feel the same way."
The application for the first round of grants is due April 29.
Gurley said the town should know of the status of its application by June or July.