U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions and Steve Pelham, State Director of USDA Rural Development, presented two checks totaling $18,391,000 during a visit to Cleburne County last week.
Federal grants and loans were awarded through USDA Rural Development to Cleburne County Water Authority and to the Randolph County Water, Sewer & Fire Protection Authority, which will provide access to public water to more than 1,100 new residential customers in rural areas of Cleburne and Randolph counties.
"I am pleased to support these awards to Cleburne County Water Authority and Randolph County Water, Sewer and Fire Protection Authority, and I appreciate Steve Pelham and the USDA Office of Rural Development for their commitment to these projects," said Sen. Sessions. "This funding will allow Cleburne and Randolph counties to connect their water systems and in turn make more water available to rural residents and strengthen the water supply for municipalitiespalities during emergency situations. The devastating drought in our state has reminded us of the importance of a reliable public water supply, so I commend the authorities from Cleburne and Randolph counties for developing this resourceful plan to help utilize available water."
"I appreciate Senator Sessions taking the time to recognize USDA Rural development's investments with the Randolph and Cleburne County water authorities and the successful partnerships that have been created to ensure a safe, affordable and abundant water supply is available for area citizens," Pelham said. "This 18.4 million investment by USDA Rural Development represents a substantial commitment by this administration to improve the quality of life in rural northeast Alabama. Local community leaders are to be commended for their vision, commitment and leadership to help prepare Randolph and Cleburne counties to meet future demands."
The CCWA received 49,126,000 from USDA Rural Development in the form of a $2,713,000 grant and a $6,413,000 loan to expand their system's services. This expansion project includes constructing a water main to interconnect with the Randolph County water system, installing additional water lines to serve approximately 600 new customers in the southern part of Cleburne County, constructing three water tanks, three pump stations and purchasing/renovating an office building for the water authority.
"The Cleburne County Water Authority would like to express its extreme gratitude to USDA Rural Development for making it possible for us to obtain the funding necessary to continue with our plan to provide safe drinking water to as many rural citizens of Cleburne County as possible," said Roger Hand, Chairman of CCWA. "With this funding the CCWA will be able to proceed with Phase II our plan."
Board members for CCWA are: Roger Hand, chairman; Sam Britt, secretary; Jerry Vaughn, treasurer; Chris Jackson and Joe Bill Conkle. Terry Butler serves as operations manager and Cindy Moore is the office manager. The authority, which began operating in 1994, currently provides public water service to over 1,400 residential customers in Cleburne County. The CCWA purchases water from the Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board.
Due to limited supply of water in Randolph County, the Randolph County WS&FPA will purchase water from CCWA once the water main to interconnect the two systems is completed.
Due to the recent drought, construction of the interconnection water main is currently underway and is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
"USDA Rural Development shares a long history with both the Randolph County and Cleburne County water authorities in their efforts to provide access to public water to thousands of rural residents in Cleburne and Randolph counties," said Pelham. "Our agency's total investment in them, including today's funding, is over $41.6 million - with nearly $14.9 million of that amount in grants."