Mayor Broadway Announces Grant awarded to County,
From DRA For $191,000.00 Dollars
November 24,2003
Congresswoman Marsha
Blackburn (foreground) was at the Decatur County Courthouse in
Decaturville, Tenn., on November 24, to present county residents with a
2003 grant from DRA. The $191,250 grant helped to leverage an additional
$33,750 in other funds for a total project cost of $225,000. The funds
will be used to construct and install a water line extension in the area
to serve residents who do not have access to safe, clean water.
County Mayor Kenneth Broadway said Congresswoman Blackburn, Senators Bill
Frist and Lamar Alexander and other state officials were very helpful in
making sure that the grant was made possible for the county, particularly
for the residents of Cedar Bluff, where the need for safe, clean water has
been so desperately needed for some time now. “It was almost impossible to
generate the revenue. The grant made it possible for the project,”
Broadway said.
For years, Cedar Bluff residents have employed a number of techniques to
obtain water for drinking and personal use. These include pulling water
from wells and using homemade devices with unfiltered lines to pull it
from the Tennessee River.
“Many of them had attempted to use the water purifying systems. Those
systems are not that reliable. They’re very expensive and require lots of
maintenance,” Broadway explained. “It’s unbelievable. Those folk were
almost to the stage of being desperate.”
Other local and state dignitaries participating in the ceremony included
County Mayor Kenneth Broadway, State Representative Steve McDaniel, Johnny
Blakeley, Nathan James, Steve O'Brooks, Southwest Development District
Director Evelyn C. Robertson Jr., Assistant Commissioner of Community
Development for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community
Development Joe Barker, and Lillie M. Fears, DRA Director of
Communications.
Back To County News -
Index
