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| photo: matt lasley - grayson county news gazette |
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CLARKSON, KY (May 27, 2017) - Clarkson Mayor Bonnie Henderson and Clarkson Police Chief Buck Meredith travelled to Frankfort on Tuesday, May 23 to accept a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the project to upgrade the City of Clarkson’s sewer system.
The Department for Local Government (DLG) recently approved the funding for the CDBG for repair and improvement of Clarkson’s sewer collection system, and the exact amount of funding was announced to Henderson and other officials in the Capital Rotunda on Tuesday.
Henderson said she did not know how much grant funding the city would receive prior to the presentation and that the city “did very well” in a competitive grant process.
“It was a really good day,” she said.
“Improving water utilities to the standards of modern efficiency is important to Clarkson,” said DLG Commissioner Sandra Dunahoo. “The CDBG funding to improve the aging WWTP will go a long way to improving quality of life throughout the community.”
Installed over 40 years ago, the original sewer system has had several problems consistently meeting the permit limits and ranks high on the list of project priorities, according to a DLG news release.
The project includes rehabilitation of six lift stations, upgrade of power connections, and clean-out of an existing five-acre lagoon at the treatment plant.
The project serves 420 customers in the area, the release states.
Henderson said the city could not have received the grant without the community’s cooperation and participation in last summer’s recanvassing.
To qualify for the grant, the city was required to perform a census of the city’s income, and, to Henderson’s pleasant surprise, only two people did not participate, giving the city the necessary response to apply.
The recanvas showed that 62 percent of Clarkson residents earn a low to moderate income, qualifying the city to receive the grant, Henderson said.
“It was a community effort, so I really appreciate everyone who took the time to fill out the census,” said Henderson.
The City of Clarkson hopes to receive the grant funds this fall to begin work on the sewer project, according to Henderson.
“This grant is vital to the community not only to be able to continue to provide basic services to our citizens but to also provide the City of Clarkson the means and opportunity to grow,” said State Senator Steve Meredith. “Updating their infrastructure is pivotal to maintaining neighborhoods and positioning the city to explore economic opportunities to create jobs locally. We appreciate our partnership with our state in providing the assistance to help our community to move forward.”
The CDBG program provides assistance to communities for use in revitalizing neighborhoods, expanding affordable housing and economic opportunities, providing infrastructure, and/or improving community facilities and services.
“This CDBG award to improve the infrastructure in Clarkson is another example of great things that are happening in Kentucky,” said State Representative Tim Moore. “I am honored to be a part of the team effort to make Kentucky an even better place to work, live, and raise a family.”
Applications for CDBG funds may be submitted to the DLG. To learn more, visit
https://kydlgweb.ky.gov/FederalGrants/CDBG_cities.cfm.
