Infrastructure projects will be the focus of Warren County’s 2019 federal Community Development Block Grant funding.

A public hearing was held on Wednesday to outline the projects to be addressed with the county’s $245,852 allocation for the 2020 federal fiscal year.

Grants Administrator Lorri Dunlap, who oversees the county’s CDBG program, said the county received three eligible project proposals.

Two will be fully funded with FY 2020 dollars.

The first is a sanitary sewer replacement on the north side of Pratt St. in Sheffield Township, totaling $130,625.

“That line is old (and) made of clay,” Dunlap said, noting it “leaks all the time” and that eight households will directly benefit from the project.

The second funded project is an extension of municipal water line on North and East streets in Columbus.

“In that area, people have on-lot wells,” Dunlap said. “Not too many of them are functioning well,” she added, noting that the water quality is “poor.”

“This has been a long time coming,” she added, and will benefit 10 households at a total project cost of $77,950.

Dunlap outlined a third project proposal that there was not “sufficient funding” for – a stormwater improvement on Center St. in Clarendon.

She said that project would expand the draining pipes and would benefit 19 households.

“The residents in that area have called me for years,” she said. “They want to put in a larger line and better storm drains.”

2019 CDBG funds would be allocated for engineering with the project to be funded with the county’s expected 2021 CDBG allocation.

The county will also keep a portion of the CDBG funding for program administration, which Dunlap said includes her time, the cost of advertising the program and items like education and conferences.