Jennifer Gentile/Daily Times Leader
Crews from Perma Corp of Columbus continued work Monday on a collapsed sewer main. The city of West Point has secured a $250,000 grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission to complete the work. 

By Jennifer Gentile
Daily Times Leader
A $250,000 grant announced Friday will help West Point repair a collapsed sewer main at Highway 45 and Church Hill Road.
The grant, which is from the Appalachian Regional Commission, is only one of the sources of emergency funding the city has sought to repair the sewer line.
The ARC funds will be used to replace 364 linear feet of sewer line and relocate it to run adjacent to the roadway, according to a statement from Congressman Travis Childers' office. Crews will fill the existing line to prevent further collapse.
The city's sewer line problem began on Feb. 26, when the failure of a 24-inch sewer main at the Church Hill – Highway 45 intersection caused a 50 foot long, 23 foot deep sinkhole to form.
“The situation poses a serious and immediate threat to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of this community,” Mayor Scott Ross said in an April letter to Mike Armour, director of the Appalachian Regional Commission. “As well as handling traffic control, the city is incurring the daily expense of renting equipment to pump raw sewage past this main line break to the lagoon.”
The West Point Board of Mayor and Selectman declared an emergency situation during its meeting in March, and the city then sought funding through the ARC, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Community Development Block Grant program.
In March, City Administrator Randy Jones had estimated a project cost of $200,000-plus. He has since revised the estimate to $300,000-plus. 
A letter from the Mississippi Development Authority, Community Services Division, states that the city has been pre-approved for $100,000 in CDBG funds for the project.
“Please be advised this written pre-agreement does not commit MDA to provide CDBG funds for this project,” the letter states. “The department will allow the community to expend the funds necessary to correct this problem prior to any CDBG award that may occur. However, the city must do so at its own risk.” 
Ross said with the pre-agreement, the city is virtually assured of receiving the funding. Between CDBG and ARC funds, he said, the entire cost of the work should be covered by grant money.
“It's great news for the city because obviously no one budgets for a problem like this; you can't anticipate it,” he said. “It could have been a strain on our city budget.”
West Point Mayor Scott Ross was with Congressman Childers in his Washington office when the grant was announced.
“This grant represents an important investment in the health and quality of life of West Point residents,” Childers said in a statement. “These significant funds will help ensure that North Mississippi's sewer systems are up-to-date and able to successfully serve their users.”
“I was extremely pleased to meet with Mayor Ross in Washington this week,” he continued, “and look forward to working together to keep West Point safe and healthy.”  
Work continued at the intersection Monday and is expected to be finished sometime next week.