Grand Ridge sewer lines nearly complete

The town of Grand Ridge has almost finished installing the sewer collection lines that will help get citizens on a central wastewater treatment system and abandon their individual septic tanks.
The town is also currently repairing the roads that were torn up to make way for the lines. The ongoing repair is good news for parents who have been complaining about the condition of Florida Street, the road that runs in front of Grand Ridge School.
The county has kicked in $40,000 to take care of most of that work, since the road is actually part of Old Spanish Trail, a county responsibility. The money came out of discretionary funds controlled by commissioner Milton Pittman.
Grand Ridge City Manager J.R. Moneyham said Wednesday that the town had hoped to have the road all fixed up by now, but that a period of persistent rains a few weeks ago threw them behind schedule.
Crews are tyring to get that road finished, along with two adjacent ones and others, he said.
The next step in the sewer project will be to select a company to build the treatment system itself.
“We’re about 120 days out on accepting the bids, and it will take about a year to complete the work once we issue the work order,” Moneyham said.
The city is eligible for about $16 million in grants for the project, but may have to take out an interim low-interest loan through USDA Rural Development to take care of around $1.2 million worth of the project, he said.