The Dallas County Commission has applied for a Community Development Block Grant that would help repair the public sewer system in the Selmont community.

If approved, the grant would pay for repairs to three lift stations in the Selmont area, according to Cara Stallman, a grant consultant with Grant Management LLC.

A lift station is designed to move wastewater from lower to higher elevation. It is primarily used when there isn’t enough gravity flow or when the use of gravity to transport will result in paying more construction costs.

Stallman said the lift stations to be upgraded are on Ceola Miller Avenue, Randolph Drive and at Capps Trailer Park. She said the current lift stations at those locations date back to the 1960s and 1970s.

“The city system out there is antiquated,” said Dallas County Commissioner Roy Moore. “It’s been there so long, like a lot of other infrastructure around, and is in dire need of maintenance and repairing some old lines.”

The grant the county applied for would be worth $350,000 and the Dallas County Water Works and Sewer Board has agreed to provide another $291,000 toward the project, bringing the total cost to $641,000.

The county last received the Community Development Block Grant in 2013 and used it to repair sewage pipelines in the Dellwood community southwest of Orrville.

The grant was worth $350,000 and was also used to improve a nearby sewage lagoon, or pond that collects wastewater.

Stallman said the application deadline for the grant is July 1. He said it will probably be until at least September before the county knows whether it has received the grant.