SILVERHILL, Alabama — A federal grant will pay half of the Town of Silverhill’s more than half-million-dollar water expansion project planned for 2019, officials learned at the Monday, Sept. 17 council meeting.

A representative from Civil Southeast addressed council members at the meeting, saying that he had recently learned that the grant had been approved for the estimated $540,000 project.

The council voted to approve a resolution at its April 16 meeting to enter into an agreement with Civil Southeast regarding the running of 8-inch water lines and replacing of 2-inch water lines with 8-inch waterlines along East Boulevard.

“Getting federal funds means the wheels of progress will likely run slow,” the representative said, adding that the terms of the grant require the town to use all of its funds before the grant kicks in.

The project will require a loan from the town, which would close probably in January 2019 with the first payment not due until January 2020. At earlier meetings, officials discussed increasing water rates over a 2-year period in order to pay for the loan.

“Since we are using federal funds, we plan to use everything we have available,” the representative said, opening up the possibility of expanding the project.

In other business Sept. 17, the council voted to set a public hearing for its next meeting Monday, Oct. 1 to rezone property located on Silverhill Avenue from R-1 to B-1.

The request requires advertising the meeting for a period of two weeks, said city clerk Nikki Haigler. Since the town is only required to post the advertisement at town hall and other public facilities, that should give them enough time to hold the public hearing during the Oct. 1 meeting, Haigler said.