Fentress Approved For More Than $5M For Water Projects

Fentress County received state approval Friday for some $5.2 million to address critical drinking water needs.

County Executive Jimmy Johnson said the county serves as a conduit for the funds that will be dispersed to Jamestown, Allardt, and the utility district. He said projects include raw water intake rehabilitation and old waterline replacements by the utility district.

“The city of Allardt, they are planning on doing three water tanks down there,” Johnson said. “So they’re planning on refurbishing those and they also have one or two roads out in that part of the county, the eastern part that doesn’t have city water. So I believe they’re planning on maybe doing that also.”

Johnson said all of these projects will help improve the water situation in Fentress County. He said the county has plenty of water, but with expansion and growth, there is always a need for more water and updated equipment.

Johnson said with the approval of the funds, the projects can now be put out to bid. He said he is unaware of any set timelines for project completion.

“It’s a tremendous help because it’s money that the cities and the districts can use,” Johnson said. “And what they have to do is just come up with the percentage of their share of it. Ours is based on 10 percent I believe is how we were rated. So that’ll be great to get that money, and while they do have to put funding in as well, we’re getting quite a bit of money out of it.”

Johnson said they are grateful to have opportunities to address needs that they would not otherwise have as a distressed county.

The state awarded some $26.5 million to 10 Upper Cumberland communities Friday. The ARP funds tallied some $933,632,711 since August.