Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
USDA delivers $5.4M in grants to area communities
Daily Journal
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $5.4 million in rural Mississippi communities that it says will help provide unmet infrastructure, business development and equipment needs.
USDA Rural Development has approved a series of 11 grants for projects in Grenada, Itawamba, Monroe, Prentiss, Tallahatchie, Union, Webster and Yalobusha counties. The grant awards range in scope from water and waste disposal grants/loans to economic impact initiative grants.
“USDA Rural Development is responsible for helping rural counties and small communities provide public services and foster economic growth. Often these investments help fill gaps that are hard to overcome with a rural tax base,” said U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.
The two largest awards are Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants. They include:
- Cason Water District, Monroe County – $2.1 million loan and $1.94 million grant to correct water deficiencies through a $4.3 million project involving a booster station, elevated storage tank and surface water transmission lines from the Northeast Mississippi Water Supply District. The project will improve water service to more than 1,600 customers in the Cason district and allow for growth.
- Ingomar Water Association, Union County – $903,000 loan to reduce water loss by replacing 40-year-old water meters with radio-read meters. The funding will also allow the association, which serves more than 900 customers, to replace some undersized distribution lines and extend its service area.
In addition, USDA Rural Development also approved two Rural Business Development grants to Water Valley. One was for $41,300 and another grant was for $32,385.
Baldwyn received a $49,134 Community Facilities Grant, and Myrtle received a grant for $35,400.
Fulton received a $45,800 Economic Impact Initiative Grant.