by KEVIN HALPERN
Monday, August 17, 2009 7:00 am

A public hearing will be held by the Town of Woodbury Thursday at 2 p.m. at City Hall.

The purpose of the hearing is to assess the community development needs of the Town of Woodbury and to solicit comments from citizens regarding the possible filing of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

According to town officials, the CDBG grant being sought would go toward addressing some of the continuing water system rehabilitation needs of the city.

“Normally we apply for these grants to extend water lines,” Mayor Harold Patrick said. “We’ve got a big problem with water loss and we’ve just purchased some new meters that were put in with a previous grant. So instead of focusing on water line extensions this time, we need to focus on our existing infrastructure and try to bring that up to try to alleviate some of that water loss.

City Recorder Charlene Odom said money from the grant would be used to focus on getting more master meters into the system to allow the servicemen to pinpoint losses more accurately. “Right now it is like a witch hunt,” Odom said.

“The state has sent out some guidelines, laws, that require you to get your water loss down to a certain percentage,” Odom said. Woodbury is in the 40-50 percent water loss range. That is good when you are applying for a grant, it helps you in your scoring, but it is not a problem that you want to have.”

Patrick said the town has to work to reduce its water loss. “Water line extensions are good, and I wish everyone in the county had it, but there comes a time when you have to say there are some other things that are going to take priority.”

This hearing is open to the public and all interested persons are encouraged to attend. The Town of Woodbury adheres to all state and federal non-discrimination laws.

Persons needing special accommodations to attend the meeting should contact the office of Mayor Harold Patrick, at 615-563-4221.