MONTGOMERY— A $500,000 grant awarded by Gov. Kay Ivey to Alexander City will help provide 50 new jobs and increased commerce for the Tallapoosa County municipality and the surrounding area.
Funds will be used to provide infrastructure necessary for Russell Lands Inc. to construct a golf course and residential development on nearby Lake Martin.
“With Lake Martin at its doorstep, Alexander City continues to make economic advances and provide new job opportunities,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “I am pleased to play a role in supporting this project and the jobs it will create at the golf course.”
CDBG funds will help the city build a sewer pumping station to serve what is being billed as an 18-hole championship golf course on 1,200 acres and an adjacent residential development on 1,500 acres south of the city on Wicker Point Road. The pumping station will be located on Speake Cutoff Road between the development and Alabama Highway 63.
Officials say the pumping station, which will transport sewage to the Alexander City wastewater treatment plant, is needed because individual septic tanks would pose an environmental threat to the lake. Alexander City is pledging $1.25 million for the project.
The CDBG economic development project is the second awarded to the city within the last year. In February, Gov. Ivey awarded $1 million to supply city sewer services to Alabama Graphite Products in nearby Kellyton. The plant will employ 100 people.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Gov. Ivey is adamant about bringing employment opportunities to all of Alabama and helping cities and counties draw commerce to their areas,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “ADECA is pleased to join her to bring this new opportunity to Alexander City.”
Gov. Ivey notified Mayor Curtis “Woody” Baird that the grant had been approved.
ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.
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