Grants awarded to improve 14 South Carolina communities

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Fourteen communities from across South Carolina are slated to benefit from public improvement projects supported by nearly $8.9 million in funds from the latest round of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The South Carolina Department of Commerce is awarding CDBG funds to these communities, representing more than 13,900 residents, for the following projects:

• Beaufort County – Bonaire Sewer Extension ($1,000,000)
• Town of Bishopville – Sewer Transmission Line Upgrade ($750,000)
• Town of Branchville – Branchville Wastewater Upgrade ($747,500)
• Town of Clover – Cloverbrook/Hillcrest Pump Station Upgrades ($482,850)
• City of Easley – West End Sewer Upgrade Phase III ($580,000)
• Town of Edgefield – Brooks Street WWTF Upgrade ($999,358)
• Florence County – Timmonsville Water Line Upgrade ($737,449)
• Greenwood County – Grendel Mill Village Sewer Upgrade ($640,000)
• Town of Hemingway – WWTP Effluent Pump Station Upgrade ($750,000)
• Town of Kingstree – Jennyville Water Extension ($436,356)
• Lancaster County – Poovey Farms / Basin 23 Sewer Upgrade ($637,830)
• City of Union – Foster Street Sewer Upgrade ($675,000)
• Town of West Union – Schroder & Burns Mill Water Upgrades ($278,693)
• Town of Williams – Water System Upgrades ($256,138)

“The CDBG program has proven itself as a way to improve and empower our local communities, encouraging continued economic growth in those areas,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. “To further attract businesses and new investment to all corners of our state, we need to preserve the remarkable quality of life that exists in each of our communities, and these public projects are a vital tool in doing just that.”

Approximately 83 percent of the funds awarded will directly impact residents in South Carolina’s Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV counties, which are not considered to be “developed.” The assistance provided in the developed Tier I counties will directly benefit low and moderate income (LMI) communities within those counties.

Commerce awards CDBG funds in the fall and the spring of each year. Selected through a statewide competitive process, local governments receiving CDBG funds are required to provide at least a 10 percent match in funding to complete the projects. Grant funds are allocated on an annual basis to South Carolina from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Commerce administers the CDBG program on the state’s behalf. CDBG assists communities in providing housing, a suitable living environment and expanded economic opportunities.

All grants awarded through the CDBG program must meet at least one of three objectives:

• Benefit LMI 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.