Long-awaited water main replacement coming to Pine Glen Estates thanks to $500K grant

Deteriorating asbestos concrete water mains in Pine Glen Estates in Selmont will be replaced thanks to a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant announced Tuesday by the Dallas County Commission. 

The project will upgrade about 2,200 linear feet of failing water lines at the former Craig Air Force Base in unincorporated Selmont. Pine Glen Estates is the only area in the county still using asbestos concrete water mains, according to Courtney Cunningham, general manager of the Dallas County Water and Sewer Authority. 

The improvements will directly benefit 258 occupied households, home to 976 residents, of whom 99% are low- to moderate-income, and 93% are minority residents. Those demographics make the project fully eligible under federal CDBG guidelines. 

The work is a joint effort between the Dallas County Commission and the Dallas County Water and Sewer Authority. 

Jackie Averhart, a member of the Water and Sewer Authority board, said the project addresses long-standing infrastructure problems that have burdened families in the area. 

Commissioner Connel “Big Daddy” Towns, who represents District 1, said the funding marks a long-awaited step forward. 

“We’ve been working with an old system and doing a lot of repairing,” Towns said. “Our residents can look forward to better water in our community.” 

Although the $500,000 grant is for water lines, Cunningham said the authority has already secured a separate $4.2 million grant from ADEM to address sewer problems in the same community. That project is expected to begin next month, with county officials planning a separate announcement. 

Dallas County Commission Chairman Jimmy Nunn credited the county’s grant writer, Kara Stallman, along with Gov. Kay Ivey, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for their support. 

“They have been working diligently to see that we receive this grant,” Nunn said. “We rely on these grants because we don’t have the money sitting in a bank account. This is how we help the citizens.” 

Commissioners noted that the county hopes to continue applying for CDBG funding every two years, as long as projects are completed and closed out successfully. 

Nunn said the decision to direct the funds to District 1 reflects both need and unity. 

“The commissioners could have chosen to use this money in another district,” he said. “But they decided to go where the need is greatest. We’re working together as a unified group.”