Community development grant means ‘more, more, more’ for Fairview residents

FAIRVIEW – In a few months, Fairview residents will be able to “go back, back, back to Jack, Jack, Jack’s for more, more, more!”

Thanks to a $144,500 grant, sewer service will be extended to facilitate local business development including a Jack’s restaurant that is expected to bring 30 jobs to Fairview.

The Community Development Block Grant will fund an infrastructure project necessary to build a Jack’s restaurant in the Cullman County town of 543 people. The project will extend the sanitary sewer system to the planned site of the fast-food restaurant on Alabama Highway 69.

The extended sewer service will also be able to accommodate other businesses, according to a news release, and town leaders said they will use it as a marketing tool to help grow Fairview’s economy. The town contributed $58,160 to the project.

“This project represents an investment in economic growth for this Cullman County town and its residents,” Ivey said. “For starters, the jobs this new business provides will have a significant impact on Fairview.

“Furthermore, these sewer upgrades should also pave the way for more development and future jobs.”

Fairview does not have its own sewer system, and the only sewer service is at the town’s elementary, middle and high schools.

The sewer system used by the schools is operated by Living Water Services, a wastewater utility company. The sewer system will need to be extended by about one mile to accommodate the new Jack’s restaurant.

Jack’s is a fast-food chain based in Birmingham with 250 locations in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi. The new restaurant in Fairview is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“Community Development Block Grants help many smaller communities like the town of Fairview provide the infrastructure necessary for a project like this that they might not be able to complete on their own,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “I join Gov. Ivey in commending the town’s leaders for securing these funds and helping bring the town a source of new jobs and new dining options.”