Baxter, Monterey among recipients of USDA funds
Two Tennessee towns are among the recipients of $163 million in USDA investments bringing and expanding high-speed internet, water, and electric power to rural America.
The USDA announced Tennessee agencies will receive $163 million of $5.2 billion being invested in rural communities across the nation. The towns of Baxter and Monterey are among the agencies sharing in these funds with other municipalities set to benefit from investments.
Baxter will use a $1.5 million loan and a $1.5 million grant to upgrade its wastewater treatment plan, including several infrastructure upgrades to the plant and one sewer pump station. This will allow the town to remove health and safety issues they are currently experiencing and ultimately provide safe and sanitary wastewater service to approximately 1,350 customers.
Monterey will use a $500,000 loan and a $2 million grant to complete the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant. The new plant will improve the town’s ability to treat wastewater which will improve the quality of life and the environment for more than 1,900 customers.
The town of Surgoinsville will benefit from a $306,000 loan and $219,000 grant to the Surgoinsville Utility District to upgrade the water infrastructure in the Phipps Bends Industrial Park. These upgrades include the installation of waterline which will allow the creation of loops in the system providing additional redundant supply routes during periods of system isolations. The project will also restore a 750,000-gallon water storage tank located within the park.
The municipalities of Morrison and Viola will benefit from a $1 million loan to the West Warren-Viola Utility District to improvements to the wastewater treatment plant located in Morrison. The improvements consist of new sequencing batch reactor equipment and electrical upgrades. The project will benefit the residents by improving sewer services.
Other investments include a $186,000 loan and $219,00 grant to the Sneedville Utility District to extend water service to the Newman’s Ridge community, a $150 million loan to the Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) to connect 13,200 consumer in seven Tennessee and five Kentucky counties, a $325,531 grant to Ben Lomand Communications to expand fiber internet services in Franklin County, a $3 million grant to the Scott County Telephone Cooperative to extend fiber service to Grainger and Hawkins counties as well as parts of Virginia, and a $2.8 million grant to the West Kentucky Rural Telephone Cooperative Corporation to extend fiber services to Weakley and Carroll counties in Tennessee and Kentucky.