Improvements Planned Along Asheville Hwy., Allens Bridge Rd.

By BILL JONES

Staff Writer

Mary Ruth Tackett, the state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency, on Friday joined Glen Hills Utility District officials in announcing the awarding of $1.4 million in federal funds to help the district upgrade its water lines and add to its water-storage capability.

"Safe, reliable water is a fundamental building block for every healthy, growing community," Tackett said during a check-presentation ceremony outside the utility district's Newport Highway operations center.

"Thanks to the support of our congressional delegation, Rural Development has the financial resources to help Glen Hills Utility District meet the growing needs of the families and businesses it serves."

A press release issued by the Rural Development Agency indicated that the Glen Hills Utility District is receiving a $1,176,000 million federal loan and a $224,000 federal grant for water infrastructure improvements.

Chris Myers, the utility district's general manager, said the federal funds will be used to install 12-inch water lines along Asheville Highway and West Allens Bridge Road, build a new 300,000-gallon water-storage facility off Doyle Davis Road in the Cedar Creek community, and replace older water meters with new ones that can be remotely read.

Won't Help Houston Valley

After the morning ceremony, Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles and Glen Hills Utility District General Manager Myers said the federal funds announced won't help the utility district extend water lines to residents of the Houston Valley Road, Tweed Springs Road and Rader Lane areas whose wells have gone dry.

Broyles and Myers stressed that county and utility district officials are pursuing other federal funds to extend the utility district water lines into those areas. Myers said about $1.7 million in federal funds would be required to extend utility water service into the water-starved areas.

Mayor Broyles used the occasion to ask representatives of Tennessee's two U.S. senators and Rep. David Davis, R-1st, of Johnson City, who were in attendance, to push for federal funding for extending utility water service further into Houston Valley and other water-starved areas.

In remarks made during the ceremony, Lloyd "Hoot" Bowers, the Glen Hills Utility District's president, recalled that he had been associated with the district since 1970, when it only had 145 customers along Newport Highway.

Serving 5,800 Customers

Currently, Bowers said, the Glen Hills Utility District serves some 5,800 customers in an area "from Greystone to Warrensburg."

He noted that the district's commissioners and employes are "very excited" about the project that the federal funds will enable them to complete.

The district has some 300 miles of water lines spread across its service area, Bowers said.

A Rural Development Agency press release said the funds also will be used "to improve system reliability by looping [water] supply lines."

Looping water supply lines, the release said, "enables a damaged segment of a supply line to be bypassed so that water continues to reach customers.

Speaking during a check-presentation ceremony outside the Glen Hills Utility District's operations center at 2722 Newport Highway, Rural Development State Director Tackett said the funds awarded to the Glen Hills Utility District are part of $28,204,200 in Rural Development water loans and grants announced Friday across the state.

One Of 12 Statewide

Glen Hills, she said, was among 12 utility districts statewide that are to share in the $28 million.

She also noted that there continued to be "a great need" for similar water-system improvement projects in East Tennessee.

Water improvement projects are funded through Rural Development community programs, which provide financing for drinking water, waste-water treatment, solid waste disposal, and storm-water facilities for rural residents, according to the news release.

Loans and grants are made to public and cooperative entities serving rural areas with a population less than 10,000. USDA Rural Development invested nearly $59 million last year to improve water and waste-water infrastructure for Tennessee communities.

Mayor Broyles Comments

Greene County Mayor Broyles recalled that, as a youth growing up in the Warrensburg community of western Greene County, he had never imagined that utility water would be extended into that area of the county.

When he was a youth, he said, the Warrensburg area did not yet have telephone service, much less utility water.

But for years now, he said, he has been a customer of the Glen Hills Utility District.

Broyles noted that it had taken "everyone working together" to obtain the federal funding announced Friday.

Rep. Yokley Comments

State Rep. Eddie Yokley, D-11th, of Greene County, in whose district much of the Glen Hills Utility District's service area lies, said before the ceremony that he was happy to see the district receive federal funds for improvements.

"I'm certainly proud that the district will be able to improve water delivery," he said. "This will help a lot of citizens obtain water with the pressure they need. We need to keep improving."

Rep. Yokley also said that, once the economy improves, he hopes to be able to pursue state funding for other water-improvement projects.

Rep. Hawk Comments

State Rep. David Hawk said he was pleased to learn that the Glen Hills Utility District, which serves a portion of his legislative district, would be receiving federal funds.

"This is a great announcement for Greene County," Hawk said. "I'm looking forward to working with Rural Development to bring more of these grants to Greene County in days to come."

Charles D. Brooks, area director for USDA Rural Development, said during the ceremony that he first was involved with water-system improvement projects in Greene County in the 1970s.

Even then, he said, Greene County was "in the forefront" of counties that were pursuing water-system improvements.