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Lee County backs grant application for Western Lee Sewer Phase 1A, seeks $3 million CDBG cap
Summary
At a July 16 meeting, the Lee County Board of Supervisors voted to support a Community Development Block Grant application for the Western Lee Sewer Phase 1A project. Planners described a roughly $40 million regional project that would install about 32.4 miles of wastewater lines and a ~303,000-gallon-per-day treatment plant.
Jimmy Atkins, director of planning at the planning district commission, told the Lee County Board of Supervisors on July 16 that local leaders are seeking the locality’s $3,000,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) cap to help move the Western Lee Sewer Phase 1A project forward.
Atkins said the current design would install about 171,000 linear feet (roughly 32.4 miles) of wastewater collection lines and build a new treatment plant with approximately 303,000 gallons per day of capacity. The full project cost, including construction and non-construction expenses, was described by Atkins as about $40,000,000; the CDBG application would request the $3,000,000 administrative cap available to each locality for this program.
The presentation explained the project is regional in scope and involves local stakeholders and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will perform appraisals and property-acquisition services where needed. Atkins noted that other recent CDBG activity in the county — a Saint Charles Monarch waterline replacement at $836,000 and a pending $480,000 water project at Flower Gap/Fairview — factor into how local CDBG caps are applied.
Board members asked how soon construction could begin and were told federal and Corps processes make exact start dates uncertain. Atkins said the county could amend a draft resolution in the packet to reflect the current $40,000,000 total if the board preferred; he described that change as administrative and not a threshold or “make-or-break” item for the application.
The board voted in favor of supporting the CDBG application and directed staff to include a resolution of support in the packet for action that evening. Next steps include finalizing the application by the August 1 Smart Scale/administrative deadlines noted in the staff materials and coordinating required Corps appraisals and easements for roughly 90 property owners potentially affected by acquisition needs.
The board packet indicates additional funding sources will be required to match non-CDBG portions of the $40 million project; Atkins said staff and regional partners are pursuing those matches.
The board’s vote to support the application does not itself obligate local matching funds; the county will consider any subsequent required matches, easements and property acquisitions as the project advances.
