Decatur Township is another step closer to getting a new fire station.

Meeting in regular session Wednesday, due to the July 4 holiday, the Lawrence County Commission

approved Chesapeake architect Robert Dalton to design the project. Dalton was one of five architects who vied for the job.

Doug Cade, Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization

director of special projects,

said he hopes construction will begin by late fall or early winter, with the building ready for use three months later, weather permitting.

Decatur Township Trustee Garold Cox said the new building is a welcome addition to the area landscape.

"This is one of the most important things we could get done," Cox said. "I've been working since day one to get our township a new fire station. The commissioners have done a wonderful job for us. They helped us get water and they're helping us get a new fire

department."

The current fire station is on the Decatur Elementary School site. The township's lease with the Rock Hill School District is ending since the

system

consolidated its elementary schools and will sell the old elementary properties.

The total project cost is $200,000, paid for by Community Development Block Grant funds.

The fire station is one of three projects getting CDBG funding this year, Cade said. The village of Coal Grove will get $25,000 for fire hydrant replacement.

The historic jail project in Burlington is receiving $50,000 for land acquisition and other costs associated with restoring the county's first jail and using it for an Underground Railroad museum.

The commission also approved an Appalachian Regional Development Commission application for a grant to pay for a new telemetry system for the Union Rome Sewer System.

The $461,592 project requires a 20 percent local match. Cade said the local monies will come from the sewer system's capital improvements budget.

"We should know by August if we get the funds," Cade said.

This is the first year Lawrence County qualified for funding as a distressed community, he added. Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune