MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, announced that work is cleared to begin on a wastewater system upgrade in Holly Pond that is being funded with a $680,000 grant he said he helped secure from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM).
“Without this grant funding from Montgomery, local officials in Holly Pond would be forced to borrow or finance the cost of this needed and overdue wastewater system upgrade,” Gudger said. “Financing the upgrade would likely have forced businesses and individuals in the area to pay higher out-of-pocket rates for the services they receive, and I am pleased that this ADEM grant helped avoid that need.”
While Gudger secured the grant a few years ago, his office said, construction was unavoidably delayed on the local level, but the Town’s engineering firm recently completed the design plans and received full ADEM approval to proceed.
“Holly Pond’s aging sewer and wastewater system has been in need of upgrade for some time, which is why it received one of the first grants awarded, but progress on the project has been impeded by factors that included the COVID-19 pandemic, rising construction costs, and Biden-era inflation,” said a media release from his office.
“This kind of infrastructure project is a significant quality of life issue because it makes small towns like Holly Pond more reliable, more comfortable and safer for the folks who live there,” Gudger said. “The hard work of the Holly Pond water services division staff, local officials and the ADEM personnel have cleared the path for the project, and it is now full steam ahead.”
Gudger also thanked Gov. Kay Ivey and recently-retired ADEM Director Lance LeFleur for the roles they played in approving the grant request.
