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"We also have a hosiery mill in the town but it was here before the water system was installed. However, there was the possibility that we would lose this plant because of the lack of fire protection and high insurance rates. The new water system permitted the owners of the mill to install an adequate sprinkler system thereby providing protection for the plant and reducing its insurance costs.

"We have recently opened up a 13-acre industrial park and have an adequate water supply already piped to the site with which to attract industry. We are convinced that our efforts to get several new industries in this location will prove successful.

"There are one or two other things I should tell you about the water system which the Government financed for us. We were the only County Seat in Tennessee that didn't have a public water system and neither our high school nor grammar school, which accommodated approximately 1,000 students, had a satisfactory water supply or adequate fire protection. However, they have it now and this has done a great deal to upgrade the schools. Just recently we built a new gymnasium and in it we have a fine locker room with plenty of water. "Only recently two new subdivisions have been started and we are negotiating for some Public Housing.

"None of this could have taken place without the public water system which was financed with the Public Facility Loan. Before we got this new system for the town, we had to use individual wells, and I had a well that was over 300 feet deep, and even it was contaminated. We were always having outbreaks of dysentery and diarrhea in the community and invariably they were traced back to contaminated shallow wells."

"Now what we want is for you people to help us get a public sewer system. We need this very much because the septic tanks we are using are not satisfactory. We will appreciate anything you can do for us."

ST. JOSEPH, MICH.

This city of 12,000 has in execution a central business district renewal project, designed to reestablish local businesses on a sounder basis. The project will also provide a site for an in-town public housing project for the elderly. It has a Federal grant reservation of $2,713,000.

SCHERTZ, TEX.

Ten miles from San Antonio lies the bustling city of Schertz. In just two short years the city has grown from 3,000 residents to 5,038 and acquired at least nine new businesses totaling some $200,000 of investment. About 150 new homes have been built. Additions have been made to a school and a church. A new high school is nearing completion.

Dr. Roy W. Richard, Mayor, credits this growth largely to the installation of new sanitary sewer facilities, including a collection system, outfall line, treatment plant and appurtenances.

Schertz could not have had the new system without the availability of a $235,000 Public Facility Loan from HUD and the long-term low-interest rate provided on the loan.

Local authorities recall how poor prospects were for development a short time ago. In 1964, no publicly or privately owned community sewage or sewage disposal system existed in Schertz. Each resident disposes of his sewage by means of septic tanks and tile fields or pit privies. Some of these were overflowing, especially in the business district.

Today, city streets, homes and businesses sparkle with neatness and care. Health hazards have been eliminated. Business buildings that were once vacant and unkept are now occupied and attractive to customers.

Sources of income for the city have been, and are now, agricultural activities, farming and livestick raising. It is also a trading center and shipping point for the area. With at least 23 business houses listed in Dun and Bradstreet and a bank with over $1,000,000 in deposits, Schertz is preparing for future growth and industry.

SEYMOUR, CONN.

This city of 10,300 has two urban renewal projects. One involved a flooded area that was cleared and developed for an addition to the high school grounds. The second was significant for business men in Seymour.

The second project is a commercial center adjacent to a new highway. The shopping center consists of a supermarket, a bank, and several smaller facilities. The location is in a downtown area. The project was successfully carried out by the Town Meeting and a referendum vote. The local approval involved an impressive degree of citizen participation. The economic and social benefits are significant because the area previously showed a high degree of substandard use and deterioration of business property.

SHARON, S.C.

Mayor C. S. Warmoth wrote this letter to HUD about the value of the Federal assistance in obtaining a public water system in this small town of 280 people:

"I would like to have you people know how much the recently completed water project for the town of Sharon, S. C. has meant to us both individually and collectively. So I take this means to state a few of the benefits we have enjoyed since we have town water.

"Since our town is located over an almost solid layer of granite rock, the uppermost fear for the homes here was that their well, the sole source of water, would fail. During the dry seasons of the last few years many wells here did fail to furnish enough water to meet the needs of the family. This led to much worry and expense in drilling new wells as many deep holes were drilled into the granite which failed to produce water. We are so glad that the homes already built in Sharon no longer have that dread to live with.

"Within our town limits, there are twenty-three women living alone and you can imagine what a relief it is to them to have a ready water supply without the sometimes staggering expense of maintaining individual electric pumps.

"The uncertainty of the water supply kept other people from building new homes here. Since the town water project was begun last year, two new brick homes have been completed here and a third one has been started. One newly married couple, one young family, and one retired family have moved trailer homes into the town. Daily there are requests that come to me for homes to rent here. Two houses are soon to be renovated and will be rented which had been unoccupied for lack of water.

"The value of real estate in our town has increased considerably. There are almost daily inquiries as to available lots for home building. This growth in our population will mean general growth for our businesses and entire community life.

"We feel that the new water system adds greatly to the health and sanitation of the town. There is water a-plenty for everyone's needs. A washerette has been installed in the business section and is one of the most popular places in town. Every store has installed lavatories, and rest rooms are being added. We now have a small new lingerie and hat shop added to our business district which we feel is an outgrowth of the new interest in the community.

"Sharon's volunteer fire department is most enthusiatic about the plentiful supply of water. We had to depend entirely on a one-thousand gallon tank to fill the fire trucks for both the town and the rural community. This was a scanty supply in case of great need and the filling of the trucks took quite a bit of time. Now it is a simple and speedy job to fill the trucks from a fire hydrant. The hydrants make water readily available all over town and we expect our fire insurance rates to be substantially reduced within the year.

"Of course, our ultimate hope and dream for our community is that the new water supply may attract a small industry which will help the economy of our town and ease the financial strain on some of our families.

"So, you see, we are justly proud of this giant step forward that town water has been to our very very small town which we hope one day will be a large and prosperous town."

SHELBYVILLE, TENN.

The Big Springs Urban Renewal Project in Shelbyville, (population 11,000) is an example of one of the most comprehensive and effective renewal undertakings in the Nation in relation to the size of the community involved.

The 162-acre Big Springs Project area was subject to periodic flooding-sometimes more than once a year. It includes the northern and northwestern sections of the central business district and adjacent residential sections. The floods constituted the principal cause of the slums and blighted conditions that existed in the area-9% of the developed land in the corporate limits of the city.

There were 453 buildings in the project area, of which 427 were substandard. Of the 369 residential structures, 357 were substandard. These have been demolished; a flood control system has been installed; and new housing and commercial facilities have been completed. Two major highway connectors have been built, improving traffic flow in the center of the city. But just as important, the renewal effort has given the community optimism and hope.

Shelbyville is the "Walking Horse Capital of the World." Each year for 26 years, it has been the scene of the Walking Horse National Celebration. It is located on the Duck River, some 50 miles south of Nashville. Besides horses,

Shelbyville is best known for pencils. Its four pencil factories produce more of this indispensable item than any other place in the U. S. The city has 40 other factories, covering a wide range of products. But the city could not expand normally because the flood-prone area adjoining the central business district inhibited new development.

In 1956, Shelbyville applied for and received approval for a federally assisted urban renewal project for the Big Springs area. There was some doubt on the part of local and HHFA Regional Office officials about the feasibility of undertaking a project as large as 162 acres, when only 69 acres were in the flood area, but it was felt that only a project area large enough to eliminate blighting conditions adjacent to the floodprone area and create a new environment for the central business district could make the project land marketable. The success of the redevelopment has proven this was a wise decision.

The entire area is now more readily accessible because of the highway construction, made possible by the flood control measures. The flood menace to health, life, and property has been eliminated. Recreational and educational facilities in the previously blighted area have been expanded.

The reuse of the acreage is: residential, 47 acres; public or semi-public, 26; commercial, 35; light industrial, 17; and streets and highways, 37. The bulk of the land has been disposed of, and over $4 million of construction has been completed on the land; some $2 million more is underway. The new buildings include 150 units of public housing, including 40 units for the elderly; three bank buildings; a State of Tennessee office building; a new City Hall; an elementary school; a fire station; new stores; other commercial; service; and light industrial structures. Also on the Project land are the new highway and interchanges. Gross project cost is $8.3 million; $1.2 million is the expected reuse value of the land. The Federal capital grant, including the relocation grant is $4,882,275. This includes the cost of the flood control measures, which represented over $1 million.

From an esthetic standpoint, urban renewal has changed Shelbyville's appearance from its typical turn-of-the-century small-town look to a modern, attractive, and progressive-looking community. The Project and the new buildings that have risen on urban renewal land have been the incentive for the upgrading, modernization, and alteration of many older buildings in adjoining areas and throughout the city.

By making available well-planned and attractive commercial and shopping areas, the Project has reversed the decline of the central business area. Dilapidated and deteriorating buildings have been replaced by modern structures, enhancing the tax base. The tax yield to the city has already increased from $3,500 per year before the Project began to over $18,000, with 40 acres of the area still to be redeveloped. There are 280 people employed in the new structures-a substantial number of these occupying new jobs not in existence before redevelopment.

The Shelbyville upgrading program has attracted the favorable attention of businessmen and industrialists in Tennessee and other States, and the city is now in a position to attract new industry.

All this was made possible by the joint efforts and cooperation of all segments of the city's population, with citizens, businessmen, public officials, church, and labor leaders, all participating in the formulation and execution of the Project. Evidence of this the 8-1 favorable vote on the $1.1 million bond issue for defraying part of the local share of project costs.

SHERMAN, TEX.

The 25,000 residents of Sherman, Texas are enjoying rapid industrial growth as a result of HUD's help with building a new water and sewer system. A huge electronics company, Texas Instruments, Inc., bought 700 acres of land in the locality for a new plant. A key factor in their decision to move to Sherman was the availability of good water and sewer facilities.

SILSBEE, TEX.

Silsbee (population 6,277) has received approval of $60,000 to build a housing project for low-income people under the new Rent Supplement Program. The project will contain 100 units.

SMILEY, TEX.

Smiley, 60 miles southeast of San Antonio, ships thousands of chickens and turkeys throughout the country each year. The poultry industry is the backbone of the city's economy.

The 455 residents have had an ample supply of water for some time. However, the water system is unique in that the deep artesian well is free flowing, and goes to each home by natural pressure with no meters on the homes at all. Each resident runs the water, which comes out of the ground at about 150 degrees fahrenheit, directly into both the hot water tanks and regular lines. There is one switch in that, the residents use the regular cold water tap to get their hot water and do not have a fire under their hot water tank, since they use the tank to store the already hot water until it cools so that they use the normal hot water tap to draw cool water.

The ingenuity of the residents didn't stop there. They needed a sewer system badly in view of the fact the method of disposal consisted of individual septic tanks. The underlying soil in Smiley is clay, with a very low absorption rate, resulting in overflowing septic tanks and unsanitary conditions generally. Hearing about the Public Facility Loans Program of HUD, they investigated and found that the City could borrow $107,000 on a long-term low-interest rate basis. Construction of a complete sanitary sewer system, including collection system and treatment facilities and a lift station, was just recently completed. W. W. Todd, Mayor, is quite happy with the new system and those who earlier saw the overflowing septic tanks can testify, health and sanitary conditions have improved 100 percent.

The new system could not have been constructed without the availability of a $107,000 Public Facility Loan from HUD aided by $20,910 Grant from the Public Health Service of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

New industry and businesses will be attracted into a southern Illinois area. of 21 small communities suffering from chronic unemployment now that their principal problem-water shortage is being solved. A temporary dam on the Big Muddy River has been built which will provide four million gallons of water a day to the 21 towns (all with 16,000 population or less) and a number of rural villages and unincorporated areas nearby. An inter-city water supply network is soon to be built. Both projects are financed by a $12.4 million HUD loan.

For about 25 years, these communities have been trying to offset a continuing decline in employment in agriculture, coal mining and related industries. According to officials, seven major concerns have considered locating plants in the area but have given up plans to do so because of the water shortage. The companies would have invested $332.5 million in new plants, and could have provided at least 6,300 direct new jobs, plus an estimated 4,400 jobs in supporting industries, trades and services.

New employment on this scale would be a major contribution toward restoring economic viability to these depressed areas where unemployment ranges up to 8.6 percent of the work force. . . more than half again the national average.

Many of the communities to be served by the distribution network now depend on inadequate individual wells, and in the balance of the communities, gradual reservoir siltation, and rising per capita consumption of water have caused existing supplies to become inadequate. Several communities have had to ration water at times over the past two years.

Some 23 rural schools now served by cisterns or wells along the route of the water distribution network, can obtain safe and potable water supplies from the system. Fire protection . . . now almost non-existent at these schools . . . can also be supplied through the network.

Individual farmers and residents along the route of the network now obtain water during the drought periods which plague this area through truck hauling. This costs an estimated $9 to $11 a month for individual residences, $40 to $50 per month where livestock is involved.

Other rural residents not located immediately on the route of the distribution network could form water districts for the joint purchase of safe water from the network, at a savings in cost.

Few industries needing large quantities of treated or raw water have settled in this area. Even those industries in the area which have no special need for large quantities of water are vitally concerned with fire protection.

Aside from fire losses, there is the continuing drain of fire insurance premiums, which are proportionate to insurance companies' losses.

According to one of the leading insurance brokers in the area, the Fire Underwriters are now seriously considering a blanket refusal to insure industrial risks at any premium, unless the plants provide a stipulated amount and kind of fire protection equipment, independent of any outside water supplies.

The 21 principal communities to receive water as a result of this project are: Jefferson County-Mt. Vernon, Waltonville, Bonnie and Ina. Perry CountyDuQuoin. Franklin County-Sesser, Ewing, Hurst-Bush, Benton, Walter, Buckner, Christopher, Ziegler, Royalton, West Frankfort and Thompsonville. Williamson County-Johnston City, Herrin, Carterville.

TEXARKANA, TEX.

This city of 20,000 has attracted two large industries which were able to locate in Texarkana after the city improved its water and sewer system with HUD assistance. A tank car company employs 400 workers. A tire company employs more than 400 and will triple its payroll with a coming expansion of tire output. More than 250 homes have been built since the new public facilities were added. City Manager John T. Meriwether says that only the HUD grant and loan made possible the new city growth.

TORRINGTON, CONN.

The Junior Chamber of Commerce in this city of 30,500 played a most active part in the successful development of a 17-acre business district renewal project in downtown Torrington.

The Junior Chamber of Commerce members devoted countless man hours in assisting the local public authority in its public information program. This campaign was essential in getting the urban renewal story across the citizens. The project is considered one of the most successful for a community this size, and it has had major economic significance to the city.

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