Parrott secures $1 million grant to improve citywide water system

PARROTT – The city of Parrott may be small, but thanks to a recent $1 million federal grant, it’s about to see one of the largest infrastructure upgrades in its history.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs announced, Aug. 19, that 36 Georgia communities have been awarded more than $36.2 million in federal grants to support infrastructure and building projects. This includes southwest Georgia communities in Parrott, Americus, Lumpkin, Colquitt and Lee County. Parrott was awarded $1 million for citywide water system improvements. This project will directly impact Parrott’s entire population of about 150, 76% of which are low- to moderate-income households.

Parrott Mayor Jake Pritchard said the grant will be a game-changer for the city, upgrading a section of iron pipe that’s been in the ground for about 100 years to plastic piping and enlarging pipes attached to fire hydrants.

“This is the first chance in a while that we’ve had to really do some major improvements,” Pritchard said. “It’s going to put us in a good spot moving forward, especially if we were to have a growth spurt.” 

These changes aren’t just about maintenance — they’ll also improve fire protection, eliminate any lead presence and potentially lower insurance rates for residents. For a town like Parrott, this kind of project, which will cost the city nearly $1.1 million total, doesn’t come often.

The city’s last project for which it received a grant was to upgrade its old water tower. That cost the city about $200,000.

“It’s (the water system project) massive compared to what normally happens,” Pritchard said. “It’s about five times what our normal big projects are.”

Securing the grant was a team effort. 

The technical side of the application was led by Stillwaters Engineering, a south Georgia firm that specializes in small-town infrastructure. CEO Chad Griffin said projects like Parrot’s are the heart of his company’s mission. 

“Stillwater’s acronym stands for ‘striving to improve local lives,’” Griffin said. “Our firm has always worked with municipalities in south Georgia to help improve infrastructure in these communities … a combination of water, sewer, roads, septic tanks … anything a community may need.” 

Griffin said Stillwater goes into communities, talks about the grant applications with city leaders and helps map systems to pinpoint infrastructure in need of an upgrade. 

“These CDBG projects are to help low- to moderate-income areas … and benefit citizens,” Griffin said. “Some of those are health benefits … like if it’s an old water system that is galvanized or cast iron; it can have old fittings that may have lead on them.” 

While Stillwater handled the technical side of the application process, Parrot’s City Clerk April Johnson handled community outreach – taking two months to knock on every single door in Parrott. She gathered household income surveys, listened to resident concerns and other critical information needed to demonstrate Parrott’s eligibility. 

Pritchard said community participation is a requirement for these grants. 

“The surveys have to be done, and the more people in the community that help out with those, the easier it is to get these grants,” he said. 

Pritchard said the grant and water project have been discussed in city meetings, meeting no opposition from residents. Johnson said the bulk of the community members she spoke to were eager to help.

“They were willing because it’s going to make their water services a lot better,” she said. “The larger pipes will let the water flow better.” 

Johnson said residents who live farther out on water lines sometimes run into problems with the flow. 

“But we have a good water superintendent who keeps the flow and takes good care of the water,” she said. 

Pritchard said these CDBG grants are instrumental for places like Parrott to be able to do projects at the scale of the water system upgrades. 

“I don’t know that there’s a better way for us to get these projects done than these block grants,” he said. “This is really the only way to get that much money for us, because otherwise we’re too small to qualify for big grants.They’re invaluable in that aspect.”

Griffin said that while the cities receiving CDBG grants have to match some funds, the amount is small in relation to the grant amount they receive. 

“It allows them to not have to tax their citizens and not have to increase their water rates and then to provide good quality water to their citizens,” he said. 

Pritchard said the timeline for the water project isn’t set yet. The city is waiting to receive the grant money, then it will put out project bids.

“It could be anywhere from a few months to a year before we get it done, but now that we have officially been awarded the grant, everything will be put into potion,” he said.