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The Harlan County Fiscal Court approved a grant application to be used for a sewer project during the court’s July meeting.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley brought the magistrates up to speed on a possible bloc grant aimed at a sewer project in the Wallins community.

“This is the next project in our prioritization,” Mosley said. “The project that is currently going in in District 4 – the KY 2425/Walnut Lane/Walnut Loop/Ball Lane project – will wrap up here in the next couple of months, then we’ll be ready to proceed and move forward.”

Mosley explained the county attempts to have another project on deck whenever one project is completed.

“The CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) window is now open to apply,” Mosley said. “They open those windows, but they close as quick as they open. It closes Sept. 1, so we could get a grant (application) submitted.”

According to Mosley, although the Sunshine Fire Department is currently utilizing a grant from the same source, the project is ahead of time on construction and will be completed soon.

“This gives us the ability to go ahead and apply for a new CDBG,” Mosley said. “Sewer extensions are part of that process, and those CDBGs move pretty quickly. The grant application would be for $1 million.”

Magistrate James Howard made a motion approving a grant application, seconded by Magistrate Paul Browning. The motion passed with no opposition.

The court also addressed a related issue, with Mosley seeking approval to enter into a contract with FAHE for CDBG application services.

According to FAHE’s website at https://fahe.org/ the group works with more than 50 nonprofit organizations throughout the Appalachian regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Alabama and Maryland. The group provides expertise in finance, innovation, collaboration, advocacy and communication to help create a more prosperous Appalachian region focusing on housing, education, health, social services and economic opportunity.

“FAHE is out of Berea. They are the group that has worked with us on the Sunshine Fire Department,” Mosley said. “They are meticulous and move at a very fast pace, and we enjoy working with them.”

Howard motioned to work with FAGE on the grant application, seconded by Paul Browning. The motion passed with no opposition.

Mosley mentioned there have also been talks with FAHE about future projects.

“We’ve talked about a long-term plan as it relates to grants,” Mosley said. “I’ve talked to Fahe specifically about – if cities were open to this – would there be a possibility we could fund some sort of technical assistance where they would go to the cities to develop a needs assessment for each individual city so that we truly understand what they need before anybody starts writing a grant.”

Mosley said FAHE is currently working on such a proposal.

“Hopefully, we’ll have more on that next month,” Mosley said.