by Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

A long awaited project in Tryon to correct overflows during heavy rains was about 300 feet from completion last week.

Tryon Town Council met Sept. 16 and heard from town manager Joey Davis that the East Howard Street sewer line replacement is nearly complete. Davis said contractors had about 300 feet more line to install and to complete punch list items such as sowing grass and the project will be finished.

Davis also said when the project crossed East Howard, about nine inches of hard sediment was discovered which showed the flow in some places was only nine inches instead of 18 inches, indicating where some of the overflow issues were caused.

Tryon received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to help pay for the costs of the new, larger line. The total project was initially expected to be $701,907 with $537,738 coming from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and $164,169 coming from the town. The town was required to pay for part of the project because the state requires the line to be replaced with a 24-inch sewer line in order to handle the flows and the grant only allows for construction of lines up to 12 inches.

Tryon has fought the problem of overflows in the area during heavy rains for many years. The town has conducted studies, worked with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and suffered several fines over the years from the state because of spills and overflows. Tryon was initially denied for the CDBG funding, but state officials later received a waiver because of Tryon’s critical need.

The grant must be closed out in October, so the project is within the grant deadline. Construction began in the spring.