Tennille receives $12 million for wastewater improvements

During the last year, Tennille Mayor Eartha Cummings has been working to receive a grant to help update the city's wastewater facility to be in compliance.

TENNILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — During the last year, Tennille Mayor Eartha Cummings has been working to receive a grant to help update the city’s wastewater facility to be in compliance.

“Because our plant is so old as well as it’s not large enough for us to continue on,” she said. “So we needed more capacity to even be able to grow as a city.”

Governor Brian Kemp announced Tuesday that Georgia is awarding more than $420 million to communities to update their water and sewer systems.

Tennille will get nearly $12 million.

“This is major,” Cummings said. “This is a game changer for the city of Tennille.”

When the current facility was built in the 90s, it was considered state of the art, but the city has outgrown it.

“We have revitalized the city in a lot of ways,” Cummings said. “But this next piece that we need to put into place was that we need to have a plan to sustain the city for years to come.”

The city plans to build a new wastewater treatment plant next to the current one.

“It’s going to be the Tennille that I believe that everyone will have had input,” Cummings said. “We will be constructing or having the type of city that we all will be proud of and will want to live, work and play in.”

Mayor Cummings says the new wastewater facility should open in about a year.