In what was the biggest announcement at the Winlock City Council meeting on Sept. 10, and perhaps one of the biggest announcements in decades, Mayor Lonnie Dowell told those in attendance that Winlock has been given a federal grant to repair Southeast Fir Street.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG for short) is worth $750,000 and will finally further a project started in the mid-1990s which had to be stopped after funds ran dry. The CDBG has been allotted to fix the 113 water lines running beneath Fir Street and also another 15,000 linear feet of pipes.
After the project's initial funds ran dry and the project seized, the street began to crumble due to the integrity of the ground being compromised.
"We will be able to have a nice road running down Fir," explained Dowell as part of the announcement. "It has been 20 years that citizens on the southside of town have had to jar their fillings loose every time they leave the house."
Mayor Dowell later added that the work on the project is expected to begin as soon as the paperwork process is completed. He anticipated that the earliest work might be completed by is early 2017. But the project may take longer depending on how long the legalities take to complete.