Emily Davis, commissioner of Baldwin County's District 1 cut the blue ribbon outside of a home on Richard Street Friday, celebrating the final touch on the completion of sewer line replacements on streets in the county.
5,000 feet of sewer line, manholes, and services were replaced along Joy Street SE, Towns Street SE and Richard Street SE, thanks to $500,000 of the $635,000 project coming from a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Those grants are allocated annually, based on community need and the number of low-income families affected, among other factors.
"The yards were flooding. Water was sitting in the roads. They were having just those kinds of issues," Davis said.
James Foston, who's lived on Richard Street SE since 1997, said before sewage improvements there was a strong odor that would permeate the neighborhood when it rained.
Old tree roots would break through old clay pipes, now plastic, and break through the street, causing it to "puff up."
"They went down to every house and every sewer line and they redid the whole sewer line system out here," Foston said. "So ever since then, it's been real, real pleasant and the odor hasn't returned, so it's been real nice ever since."
According to county manager Carlos Tobar, the county has been working on new sewer lines with grants since 2010. This is the fourth phase of sewage work. The ribbon cutting was prompted by the completion of the county's audit of sewer work, which Tobar said was passed "with flying colors."
Davis said the county targeted other neighborhoods to improve as well.
"We have another grant that we're working on and we're going to assess some more areas," Davis said.
According to Matt Smith, a senior engineer with Carter and Sloope Inc. that fixed the area, that grant application is due in April of 2019.