MARENGO COUNTY- The city of Jefferson will have enough funding to cover the complete cost of new water lines thanks to the State of Alabama.

Governor Bob Riley recently announced a $240,000 grant to the Marengo County Commission for Hurricane Ivan damage repairs.

Commissioner Chairman Freddie Armstead said the money will be used to run extended water lines from existing lines in Jefferson.

“We asked for disaster money about three months ago,” Armstead said. “So we’re going to add it to the $400,000 grant we already had.”

Armstead said because of the second grant, residents won’t have to pay construction costs.

“They won’t have to pay anything except meter service,” Armstead said. “This shows what people can do when they work together for the good of all. It was very time consuming, but it was worth the time.”

Although the county is still recovering from Ivan, Armstead said about 95 percent of damage caused to the county by Katrina has been taken care of.

“We will recover,” he said. “We are just trying to get the roadways cleared then we will take care of the right-of-way.”

Armstead said Marengo County was blessed the Lord spared it.

“My heart and prayers go out to people in Mobile, Mississippi and New Orleans,” he said. “We are glad to help any way we can.”

Please contact the Marengo County Commission at (334) 295-2200 if you or someone you know needs help recovering from Katrina.