Governor McAuliffe announces $300,000 Community Development Block Grant for Albemarle County

Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for Albemarle County for the Oak Hill Sanitary Sewer Phase II project through the CDBG Construction Ready Water and Sewer Fund.  The Albemarle County project will provide new public sewer service to the Oak Hill subdivision, alleviating the reliance on aging septic systems that were built in the 1960s.

Speaking about today’s announcement, Governor McAuliffe said, “The CDBG program has been an important tool to address infrastructure needs like water and sewer in many of our communities throughout the Commonwealth.  We must continue to invest in projects that provide critical infrastructure in order to build a new Virginia economy and make Virginia a great place to live, work and play.”

“We are committed to providing the necessary resources to our communities across Virginia,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones. “By combining state and local funding, we are ensuring that this community has safe and affordable water, and this will ensure a better quality of life for the residents.”

The project is expected to benefit 20 households, with 17 of those households being low- to moderate-income. The sewer service is funded under the CDBG Construction Ready Water and Sewer Fund, which provides assistance to projects providing public water or sewer service to communities made up of at least 60 percent low- to moderate-income households. Funds are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis from January 1through the end of September.

“We very much appreciate the state’s support in making completion of this critical infrastructure system possible for a neighborhood in need in the County, and we look forward to continued partnership with the Governor’s Office and the Community Development Block Grant program to address future infrastructure concerns in our community,” said Jane Dittmar, chair of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

Since 1982, the federally-funded CDBG program has been administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and Virginia receives up to $17 million annually for this grant program. Most CDBG grant funds are awarded through a competitive process.