A project to update antiquated lift stations in Selmont is one step closer to getting under way.

On Monday, the Dallas County Commission approved Grant Management LLC as the grant administrator for the project and Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood as the engineer firm in charge of designing the construction plans.

Cara Stallman, a grant consultant with Grant Management LLC, said the next step for the project would be for Goodwyn, Cawood and Mills to design it and then have the project bid out for construction.

“In order for the grant to function, it has to have someone administer it and it has to have an engineer to do the design,” Stallman said.

Stallman said there was only one proposal for a grant administrator and one proposal for an engineer, so it was an easy decision for the commission.

“Now the engineer will design the project and come up with the plans, and then we’ll bring that back here, and we’ll begin advertising and then contractors will bid on it,” Stallman said.

She said she hopes the construction will be bid in March and begin in May.

“It’s replacing three whole lift stations, but I don’t think it will be a long construction period, maybe two or three months, four months. Something like that,” she said.

The Community Development Block Grant is for $350,000 and an additional $291,000 from the Dallas County Water and Sewer Board. It will replace three lift stations in Selmont that are outdated and malfunctioning.

“There are lift stations in Selmont that are over 70 years old that were built at the original time,” Stallman said. “So there’s pumps that are non-existent, there’s parts that don’t even work, and they’re just ancient.”

A lift station pumps water from lower to higher elevation, so Stallman said many of the residents in the area have complained of smelling built up sewage.

The grant was applied for during the summer, and it was awarded to the county in November.