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12 <br /> Grant Opportunities for Sewer Infrastructure: <br /> The Task Force explored several grant opportunities to fund the sewer improvement for <br /> the Rogers Road Neighborhood. The Task Force was furnished a list of possible grant <br /> opportunities from RENA including the following: <br /> Community Development Block Grants <br /> Department of Health and Human Services <br /> Department of Housing and Urban Development <br /> Environmental Protection Agency <br /> Federal Highway Funds <br /> Clean Water Trust Fund <br /> Bernard Allen Fund <br /> These are mostly federal grant opportunities which are administered through the State. <br /> After reviewing all of the grant opportunities the Task Force was able to identify only two <br /> possible grants to fund sewer infrastructure, a Community Development Block Grant or <br /> a Clean Water Trust Fund Grant. <br /> Community Development Block Grant <br /> Orange County has to access Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars <br /> through the State of North Carolina. That is a competitive process. Within the CDBG <br /> grant program, there is a category known as "Infrastructure Program". In that category, <br /> funding is available up to $1 million to communities that have infrastructure needs. The <br /> operative word is "need". To access those funds, because they are competitive, any <br /> application will have to be able to demonstrate need. Another issue is that the State <br /> has focused on water projects, which it considers to be a priority over sewer. Where it <br /> does fund sewer projects there has to be a demonstrated need for connection to a <br /> public sewer system. Someone would have to document that need in the community. <br /> The State primarily looks to the local environmental health department to make that <br /> assessment. When talking about sewer projects, normally there is some documentation <br /> of a major problem such as with failing septic systems. <br /> To qualify to compete for CDBG funds, a letter of interest will be due in early February <br /> 2013. The letter must include the engineering report and project documentation <br /> defining the needs of the community. That letter, along with a list of committed local <br /> government funding sources to complete the project, are necessary before submitting <br /> the CDBG application. The amount of local government matching funds required varies <br /> from county to county. The CDBG process evaluates the local government's perceived <br /> ability to pay. A low-wealth county would have a lower ability to pay versus what the <br /> state perceives to be a high-wealth county. The county's employment rate and the per <br /> 8 <br />