Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Dallas County Commission is applying for seven different grants that range from housing improvements and watershed improvements that are related to the disaster declaration after Hurricanes Sally and Zeta.

During its regular meeting Monday, June 9, the commission held a public hearing to discuss the grant projects. The three housing projects include one with the George Washington Carver homes in Selma and two with the Jim Minor homes.

The three infrastructure grants are all related to stormwater flooding mitigation.

They are applying for $5 million that would go to the Selma Housing Authority to construct new homes. Two grants of $4.5 million and $399,872 for Jim Minor homes. The first is to help replace roofs, windows and doors to harden the facilities to be better able to withstand storms and increase energy efficiency.

The second will replace the one water meter that runs whole buildings and install individual water meters for each home. Currently, if there is a water issue, they have to shut down water for the whole building instead of just the affected unit.

There are three mitigation projects, but they will all work together to improve stormwater run-off issues across the county. The three project requests are for up to $7.4 million to address issues in the upper watershed, middle watershed and Cahaba watershed.

“The problem is, you can’t just fix one of them because it creates a problem further down the line,” said Ernie Baggett, with the Alabama Association of County Commissions. “The good news is that everybody has looked at this and they’re looking at stretching this as far as they can possibly take that money. It looks like you’ve got some good projects that will really make a difference.

Marcella Roberts of Holly Anne Development said they are working with the city, county and SHA on the project.

“This will just serve as another phase of it to bring back beautiful homes in the area of the GWC so when people come to town for tours, the Jubilee and other things, they’ll be able to share in that and see all of the rich history that was a part of the GWC homes and the (Brown Chapel AME) church from back in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Roberts said.

Another public hearing was held on a $500,000 grant application for District 1 to replace asbestos water lines. This is a Community Development Block Grant.

The funds would go to the local county water authority in that district to replace these water lines.

“Those water lines are very brittle, and when it gets cold, they break,” said grant administrator Kara Stuen. “They were not meant to last this long. So we’re going to be replacing these lines so that people will have better service in that area.”

Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn said it is a “win-win situation” for the county if they are awarded this grant.

Also during the meeting, Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputies had to escort Faya Rosa Touré from the commissioner’s chamber after she took a seat at the administrative table. She had spoken on an issue concerning commission attorney John Kelly during the public input time, and after her time had expired, she proceeded to take a seat by County Administrator Barbara Harrell.

The deputies did not appear to cuff Toure, but she was asked to leave the courthouse annex by law enforcement.