Reply #3: I've written CDBG grant applications.

[CottonBear]

I worked for an engineering firm in Georgia. We got grants for funding to install water lines in small, poor rural towns. I interviwed every household in 3 towns in NE GA. I had to get detailed income and family information. I mapped the entire town using the demographic information which I collected.

I had a big adventure and met many interesting people. I met several very old black families who lived in tiny 1800's era homes. They all had pictures of MLK & JFK on the living room wall. I met an old white woman in her 90's who had a complete Confederate soldiers uniform in her attic. I met a family who chief wage earner worked as a clerk at McDonalds. I met a future state representative. I met single white women with babies living in run-down trailers. I met a race car driver who drove at the local tracks. I met many people who could not read or write. I met Mexicans who were playing folk music with a fiddle and guitar. I met good, bad, sad, weird and some scary people. I met lots of big dogs.

The towns would qualify in part if they had such a small tax base that they could not afford to fund the utility construction. The reason for the grants was the need for clean water. These towns had small residential lots which were served by wells and septic tanks. The very small lot sizes would not be allowed for new construction with wells and septic tanks. The wells and septic tanks were too close together resulting in coliform and fecal coliform contamination of the well water. Your well might be uphill of your septic system but it would be downhill from your neighbors.

I took water samples from a statistical sample of the homes. (I also made some narrow escapes from unleashed pit bulls raised for dog fighting!) We got the grants. The residents could connect to the "city water" with no initial meter fee. The wells were disconnected from the homes to prevent possible backflow into the public system but could still used for outdoor watering purposes.

Public health is important. Clean water is important. I suppose * isn't as compassionate as he thinks he is. :cry: