Housing Authority Board Approves Replacement Of Sewage Lines In Willingham Village

Plans to begin replacing aging terracotta sewage pipes at the Willingham Village are in the works.

The Northwest Housing Authority Board approved using state infrastructure grant funds to begin the process during a called meeting Thursday.

“We’re going to begin replacing the infrastructure in phases,” Northwest Georgia Housing Authority Executive Director Sandra Hudson said on Friday. “The plan is to start on the area near the park (on Brookwood Avenue) and work our way through the rest of the area.”

That park, which will be dubbed Hufstetler Park, is being paid for through $1,731,048 in funds from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program created by the American Rescue Plan Act. Hudson said they’ll primarily use state grant funds for the replacement of the sewage lines but may also use other funds on hand to get the project started.

Willingham Village is a rehabilitation project consisting of 96 units in the West Rome area off North Division Street. Most of the units are single-family and duplex-style residences.

However, issues with the sewage lines in a portion of the residences off Brookwood were a point of contention regarding a pilot program to bridge a gap for homeless families to find housing.

In August 2023, the Rome City Commission voted to fully fund a two-year rapid rehousing pilot program intended to be a partnership, primarily between the housing authority and United Way. As part of that plan the housing authority would provide recently renovated residences in Willingham Village for families in that program.

However, issues, likely roots, backing up the sewer system to seven of those units on Brookwood caused sewage to back up rendering them unlivable. In each of the cases where the issues were reported, Hudson said, they responded and cleared the blockage.

Despite that, there is still some question about how the rapid rehousing partnership will move forward. At this point the dozen or so families in the program continue to work through the program from residences in Willingham Village that did not have sewage issues.

United Way Executive Director Alli Mitchell said earlier that the pilot program was designed to be just that, a pilot, and has been overall successful. Her hope is that other entities, like the housing authority, will take the lessons and successes of that program and utilize them in their own programs.