The N.C. Rural Center awarded $500,000 to the Town of Pinetops for renovation work on its sewer system.

Pinetops Manager Greg Bethea said the town was "very pleased to get the appropriation" it applied for on its own from The Rural Center.

Bethea said the money will go towards repairing nearly a third of the town's sewer pipes, which over time have started cracking and allowing extra water to seep in from the outside. The town manager said that liners will be installed in roughly "a third" of Pinetops's sewer lines, lowering the town's cost to treat its waste water by preventing outside water from seeping in.

The town has had much of its sewer lines lined and repaired in a similar fashion, with Bethea saying that it has "dramatically reduced the amount of water we've had in our system." He added, though, that the $500,000 is not enough to completely finish relining the town's sewer system.

The Town of Sharpsburg received $1 million from The Rural Center to rehabilitate its sewer system and to purchase equipment for operations and maintenance.