The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Virginia Rural Development office today announced it will invest in planning and evaluation processes critical to three rural Virginia localities’ water and sewer infrastructure.
The Town of Brookneal, Buckingham County and Halifax County Service Authority each will receive a $30,000 grant to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address public water and waste needs.
“Our planning grants fund what will be the foundation of, and a major catalyst for, providing residents with access and updates to essential services,” said Jim Maras, Virginia community programs director, USDA Rural Development. “Preliminary engineering and environmental reports needed for infrastructure upgrades are often out of reach financially for rural localities, which is why we’re proud to offer these grants as means for empowering localities across Virginia to launch projects safely and effectively.”
Two of the grants announced today are USDA Rural Development SEARCH grants, which help very small, financially distressed rural communities with predevelopment feasibility studies, design assistance and technical assistance on proposed water and waste disposal projects.
Also included in today’s announcement is a Predevelopment Planning Grant (PPG), which assists low-income communities with initial planning and development of an application for USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal direct loan/grant and loan guarantee programs.
Funding is contingent upon the recipients meeting the terms of their grant agreement.
Descriptions of the projects and localities are below.
- Brookneal - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address needed improvements to the Town’s existing sewer collection system.
- Buckingham County - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address the extension of public sewer to the Sprouses Corner area.
- Halifax County Service Authority - $30,000 - Predevelopment Planning Grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address the issue of resizing the Sutphin Road interceptor, which will transfer raw wastewater from the Town of Halifax to the South Boston area.