By Scott Nickerson
Elmore/Autauga News
The Elmore County Commission has been awarded a grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in the amount of $3,538,040 to complete a funding package to construct a Unified Sewer Line (USL) in western Elmore County. The funds were provided as part of the American Recovery Plan Act and compliment funding put in place by the participants of the West Elmore Sewer Group. The project rose to the top of local priorities for investment due to the generational positive effect it will have on Elmore County residents.
The project will include five Participants who collectively make up the West Elmore Sewer Group (WESG): the City of Millbrook, Town of Elmore, Town of Deatsville, Elmore Water and Sewer Authority, and the Elmore County Commission. Bart Mercer, the Elmore County Commissioner for District 4, has been elected by the Participants to serve as the Chairman of the WESG initially.
Mercer explained the significance of the Elmore County Commission receiving this grant on behalf of the WESG and what the USL means for the people in the area. “The ADEM grant is the final piece to the total project funding equation. These funds will help the West Elmore Sewer Group leverage funds to accomplish a project that will provide many opportunities for citizens in western Elmore County without each entity being required to make large individual investments. By constructing the USL, the project will create a conduit to maximize the use of available sewer treatment capacity in Millbrook and Wetumpka. While the USL will not include installing infrastructure to individual homes initially, it will be the backbone infrastructure that creates additional access and capacity in the future.”
The West Elmore Sewer Group was formalized in 2022 under a compact in an effort to create a mechanism to expand sewer access in western Elmore County. Each participant of the WESG is investing in the project and will have access to the Unified Sewer Line once completed. The compact between the WESG also dictates how other towns or water authorities can become a participant while also detailing how maintenance will occur to the USL.
The USL will be installed from the intersection of Highway 14 and 143 in Elmore, Alabama, down to a portion of Airport Road near Airport Road Intermediate School to a connection point at a Millbrook sewer pump station. The construction of the Unified Sewer Line will be by a competitive public works bid. Construction of the USL should begin in 2025. Funds for this project must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and all obligated funds must be expended by December 31, 2026.
