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By Michael Owens
Reporter / Bristol
Herald Courier
Published: March 27, 2009
For more than 20 years, Norton city
officials fruitlessly sought state and federal funding to build a sewage system
for the 100 homes in the Josephine area now using septic tanks or a line to a
river.
“We just said this is a project
that the state is not interested in, so we just dropped it,” City Manager Ernie
Ward said Thursday.
But a year ago, city officials
dusted off the blueprints and began applying again. This time, they were more
successful.
On Thursday, Ward learned the
project has been recommended for a $500,000 federal grant – enough to land a
building contractor before the end of the year.
“This is a last piece of funding
that we need to get the project moving,” Ward said.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine picked
Norton and 16 other Southwest Virginia
localities to receive $2.7 million worth of federal grants. The grants are
funneled through the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) program, which
serves 13 states.
Though Kaine does not have the
final say on where the grants go, a spokeswoman with his office said that the
state picks for ARC funding are rarely overturned.
“Sure, I’ll take it,” Ward said.
Also recommended for funding:
* Dickenson County – the Haysi to
Big A Mountain Water Project, Phase III, $500,000
* Galax City – Felts Park Performance Center, $99,000
* Lonesome Pine Office on Youth – Straight Songs from the Crooked Road, $65,000
* Norton – Norton Sewer Rehabilitation and Extension Project, $500,000
* Pennington Gap – Lee Theater Learning Center Renovation, $431,789
* Saltville – Saltville Regional Dental Clinic, $200,000
* Southwest Virginia Community College – Meeting the Demand for Skilled Trades
Workers in SWVA, $100,000
* U.Va. Wise – Healthy Appalachia Institute Startup, $90,000
* Virginia Early Childhood Education Foundation – Southwest Virginia
School Reading Initiative, $100,000
* Wise County IDA – Wise Inn Restoration and Redevelopment, $277,574
* Blue Ridge PBS – Traveling From the Crooked Road, $34,000
* Virginia Economic Bridge – SWVA Shared Heritage with the European
Union, $25,000
* Round’ the Mountain – Heartwood: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Gateway Web
site and database, $200,000
* Virginia Foundation for the Humanities – Virginia Folk life Workshop Stages,
$30,000
* Scott County EDA – Duffield Regional Technology Center Geothermal Energy
Project, $50,000
* Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine – Illicit Use of Prescription Drugs
in Appalachia: A Regional Model of Intervention, $50,000
* Virginia Western Community College – Craig County Viticulture Initiative,
$30,000
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/governor_picks_projects_for_arc_grants/22278/
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