Nevada County agrees to back grant application to rehabilitate Bluff City water tank

Nevada County officials voted to authorize the county’s economic development office to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to rehabilitate an aging water tank in Bluff City.

A presenter asked the Corinth board and county to support the No. 4 and No. 24 Water Association’s request because water associations cannot submit the grant application directly. The presenter said the project would include interior and exterior painting and other rehabilitation work and estimated the cost at about $250,000. "If it goes over, the water association is responsible for any overage," the presenter said.

Board members moved and seconded the request and the clerk recorded affirmative votes from attending members, including Barrett, Brown, Burnette, Jackson, Miss Clark and Butler; the motion carried. The presenter told the board the sample resolution would be brought to the next meeting for formal adoption before the application is submitted in October.

The presenter cautioned that applying does not guarantee funding: Community Development Block Grant awards are competitive and the county will proceed with engineering and cost estimates only after the board’s pre-approval. The presenter also said the county already has used the same mechanism to apply on behalf of small water systems in Oak Grove and Walnut Grove in prior years.

The board’s direction is procedural: staff were authorized to prepare the application and bring a formal resolution to a future meeting. No project contract or construction funding was approved at this session.