Lancaster County is one of several communities across the state to receive federal grant money, according to a release issued late last month from the S.C. Department of Commerce.
The county is again the recipient of a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant, which will go toward continued infrastructural upgrades at the old Springs mill village in the Brooklyn area.
About $11 million total in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds have been awarded to 28 communities across the state. These projects will benefit more than 14,000 residents.
“The CDBG program consistently has a positive impact on communities across our state that lack resources for community development. These resources not only help improve residents’ quality of life, but also help create a more competitive environment for bringing jobs and investment,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt.
The projects receiving grants were selected through a statewide competitive process. Communities receiving CDBG funding are required to provide at least 10 percent matching funds. To secure grant funding, communities must demonstrate how they will use grant funds to ensure healthy and safe neighborhoods. Projects will address improvements to water, sewer or drainage infrastructure. These projects will eliminate contaminated or dry wells, overflows in septic tanks or drainage, and will result in safe drinking water, improved fire protection, improved treatment of sewage and protection from property damage. By making these strategic capital investments, public health, safety or environmental quality concerns will be addressed.
Approximately 87 percent of these funds will be invested within counties that are not considered “developed.” In all, 10,000 low-to moderate-income households will benefit from these improvements.
All grants awarded through the CDBG program must meet at least one of three objectives:
- Benefit low and moderate income persons.
- Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums and blighting conditions.
- Meet other urgent community development needs where existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to public health and welfare and where other financial resources are not readily available to meet such needs.
The grants funds are allocated annually to South Carolina from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Department of Commerce administers the CDBG program for the state. The program assists communities in providing housing, a suitable living environment and expanded economic opportunities. Grants are awarded to local governments to carry out a wide range of activities addressing housing and community development needs. More than 70 percent of the funding will assist the state’s lower income residents.
Following are nearby communities also selected for CDBG funding:
- Town of Cheraw, $315,640 for drainage improvements
- Chester County, $427,009 for Meadowbrook Road area water extension
- City of York, $500,000 for Cannon Mill Village water and sewer Phase I
Released by SC Department of Commerce, published in The Lancaster News
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