By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR New Director
Paris, Tenn.—Meeting at Paris City Hall Tuesday, USDA Rural Development Director Jim Tracy joined the city of Paris Mayor Carlton Gerrell in announcing a water system improvement project for Henry County totaling over $8.2M.
Gerrell said, “I’m excited about all the great things happening in Paris lately and today is another great announcement with the Paris Board of Public Utilities.”
USDA Area Director Joel Howard said a change in federal regulations allowed the USDA to help with the project. The city of Paris is receiving a $7.2M loan and a $1M grant through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program for the construction of the new water treatment plant.
The new plant will replace the outdated existing plant in Paris which was constructed in the 1950s. The project will serve all 5,060 active users and three wholesale customers of the BPU water system in Paris and Henry County.
A large contingent of federal, state and local officials were on hand for today’s official announcement, which was held at Paris City Hall. Others at the announcement included Henry County Mayor Brent Greer, BPU General Manager Terry Wimberley, City Manager Kim Foster, Ed Jackson, Regional Director for Congressman David Kustoff, USDA Area Specialist Brandon Orr, USDA Community Program Director Terrence McGhee, and a representative of Sen. Lamar Alexander’s office.
Howard of USDA noted that a change in the agency’s population limit to 9,999 allowed his agency to help with the water system project. “The moment that change was announced, I emailed Kim Foster and asked her if the city had needs. We were able to obligate $8.2M in record time and I’m proud to be here and we’re proud to help you with this.”
Wimberley noted, “Water and wastewater regulation changes usually are not good for us, but this time it worked in our favor and allowed us to work with the USDA as we could not before.”
State Director Tracy thanked the city and BPU for its partnership. “This has been a really good day for the USDA and everyone has worked really hard on this.”
Photo by Shannon McFarlin.
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