Valley Grande is one more step closer to repairing its wastewater treatment lagoon. 

The council approved a $1,600 project to make a few improvements to the lagoon, located near Overlooks Hill subdivision in Valley Grande.

Using its general funds, the council plans to install a fence around the lagoon and add a new weir, which measures the flow of water into a lagoon.

The small project is meant to address some of the issues the Alabama Department of Environmental Management found while conducting a surprise annual inspection of the lagoon in June.

“It’s definitely a liability to not have a fence, and you can’t put a price on someone’s life,” Mayor Wayne Labbe said after the meeting. “That’s just the bottom line.”

The council is depending on two state agency grants to fund the needed improvements ADEM suggested, such as a new aerator, fencing around the lagoon and an outflow system to measure the amount of treated water pumped from the lagoon to Valley Creek.

The Community Development Block Grant is $450,000, while the Delta Regional Authority Grant is approximately $100,000.

Community Development Block Grant will used to repair the sewer lines in Overlook Hills.

Labbe said dirt has gradually shifted the pipelines in the lagoon, which were created in the 1960s. Therefore, some pipes ends don’t connect evenly, which can result in leakage.

“It’s our attempt to go in and reline those pipes that have shifted,” Labbe said. “Our plan in working with Ray Hog and Hog Engineering is to put the cameras in, see where those points are and fix them.”

The Delta Regional Authority Grant will fund the fencing and an additional outlet structure.

Labbe said most of council feels really good about the grants.

The grants are awarded based on a point system. He said they were just 10 points shy of getting the $4,500 grant last year.

“When you apply for it three years in a row, they automatically give you ten points on your third year,” Labbe said. “We are crossing our fingers for that.”

Labbe said city engineering consultant Ray Hogg informed him that it could take up to 10 months for the grants to be approved and made available to the council.

A majority of the council said it would be best to make some improvements before someone is harmed while at the lagoon and take legal action against the city.

“If do not build a fence, someone gets hurt, and it is told to whoever and we’re aware that that fence is not done, we are in mega bucks of lawsuits,” Councilwoman Jane Craig said.

Kenneth Martin, the only councilman to vote against the recommendation, said it would be more sensible to wait until they receive the grant to fund the project.

“It’s been there for over 30 years, and nobody has ever gotten hurt out there, yet,” Martin said. “There are no trespassing signs. If they trespass, they assume the liability, in my opinion.”