Baldwin County held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for a sewer line project valued at more than $1.3 million and County Manager Carlos Tobar is hoping this endeavor is one of many more to come.
Commission Chairman Johnny Westmoreland and District Commissioners Emily Davis and Kendrick Butts joined Tobar and representatives of the contractor, RDJE, Inc., on Lee Street off Vinson Highway on March 21, to mark the beginning of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) sewer line upgrades in the area.
Approximately 4,000 linear feet of sewer lines serving 48 users will be replaced, with the state funding $1 million of the cost and a balance of $341,000 coming from SPLOST proceeds. Tobar said the grant was approved in 2022.
“Sewer lines east of Vinson Highway will be replaced on Daphney Street Southeast, Martin Drive Southeast, Stuart Circle Southeast, Lee Drive Southeast, and a portion of Lee Street Southeast,” Tobar said.
Baldwin County has applied for financial assistance for sewer line improvements several times since Tobar became county manager.
“During my tenure here, this will be the third project, all of them CDBGs,” he noted, adding that the second one was approved in 2019 for $777,271, with only a $27,000 match for work completed the next year. “We hope to get on a faster schedule here. Now that we’re a GICH (Georgia Initiative Community Housing) community, we can apply every year. So, hopefully, we’ll be doing a sewer project every year.”
Tobar explained the county is in the process now of applying for more CDBG funding, and this application will be for more than just sewer work.
According to a letter from Westmoreland to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), Baldwin County is requesting $1.25 million in CDBG funds “to address the failing sewer and substandard housing in the Marion Street Target Area.”
The total cost of the project is projected as $1,642,318.45, and, per the letter, “Baldwin County commits $390,318.45 in local funding and in-kind services towards this project.”
The amount for the housing grant is set at $250,000, with three houses scheduled for renovation, while approximately 4,950 feet of substandard sewer lines will be replaced or upgraded. The affected areas would include Marion Street, Thompson Circle, Thompson St. Southeast, and Vinson Highway.
While Tobar said he wants to work toward replacing or repairing more of the older lines that cause the sewage problems, he stressed the county does not spend any funds on expanding its system of approximately 2,000 customers.
“The developers do that,” Tobar said. “If they’re doing a development out in the county and want sewer, they must do it. And, it has to be contiguous to lines we have out there.”
He added, however, that, while the county does not finance sewer system expansion, a new state program will allow local governments to assist in increasing the availability of affordable housing.
“The Rural Housing Initiative is new to Georgia,” Tobar said.
“Governor Brian Kemp introduced it last year and I believe the first applications were due or awarded last May. The governor said, if Georgia is going to be number one in business, housing has to be there for the workforce.”
While he is not sure of the formula used to determine what constitutes “affordable” housing, Tobar said it remains the term used by the state to be eligible for funding.
And, the program is structured for the local government to be the conduit, he added.
“The county is willing to apply to DCA for water and sewer expansion infrastructure cost and road development cost in a new subdivision if they (developers) will sell the houses at an affordable price,” Tobar said. “This is a first for us. We’re going to give it a try.”
Tobar said county personnel have met with four developers who own different tracts: one on Dunlap Road, one near the new Publix, another at what was the Shalimar Mobile Home Park, and the fourth next to the fire department on Allen Memorial Drive and Ivy Street.
The deadline for submitting paperwork is April 29, and only one of the above tracts will be sent for consideration by the state.
“All four of them are considering putting something together,” Tobar stated. “They have to spend money to get an engineer’s estimate and give us a conceptual drawing. So, they’re competing against themselves.”
Tobar said after his department meets with the grant writer and DCA, it will make recommendations to the Baldwin Board of Commissioners, which will then decide on which project to submit for consideration.
“We will submit an application to DCA for DCA, the State of Georgia, to pay for water and sewer expansion to a new subdivision with affordable housing,” Tobar said. “We don’t know if it will get approved, but we will try.”
To hear remarks from the sewer line replacement groundbreaking ceremony visit the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners Facebook page.