LUMBERTON — Robeson County is submitting six t project proposals totaling about $2.8 million to the state Golden LEAF Foundation in hopes of receiving funding under its Community Assistance Initiative grant program.

Since late spring, community members have been meeting to identify and develop projects in the areas of health, education and economic development that would best serve the entire county and most likely to be viewed favorably by the Golden LEAF Foundation. According to County Manager Ken Windley, a 15-member review committee — representing the areas of health, education and economic development — selected the six local projects from 25 applications.

“We first narrowed it down to 10 projects,” Windley said. “It was then extremely difficult to get it down to the final six.”

Representatives of each proposal will make a presentation before the Golden LEAF Foundation’s board of directors on Jan. 8, Windley said. The board has the authority to approve funding for all of the projects, some of the projects, or none of the projects.

The foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative grant program provides up to $2 million for economic development efforts in Tier 1 counties, which are deemed the most stressed economically. Robeson is a Tier 1 county.

The county’s No. 1 recommended project is for a sewer extension at the industrial park in St. Pauls. The estimated cost of the project is $700,000.

“This project is critical for economic development not just for us in St. Pauls, but for the whole county,” said St. Pauls Administrator Stuart Turille. “Our vision is to get a share of the estimated $30 billion in investment and 20,000 defense personnel coming to Fort Bragg through BRAC.

“But no one will want to locate in an industrial park that doesn’t have sewer. I’ve already got some people out there who want to expand, but they won’t do it without sewer capacity.”

The county’s No. 2 priority project, costing an estimated $400,000, is for the construction of stables at the proposed horse arena at the Southeastern Agricultural Center/Farmers Market, just outside of Lumberton.

About $3.7 million is already earmarked in the state Department of Agriculture’s budget for the construction of a complex that among other things will be suitable for equestrian events, Windley said.

“But the plans do not include stables,” Windley said. “You can’t hold horse-related events if you don’t have stables.”

The remaining proposals, listed by priority ranking, include:

— Advanced manufacturing facilities for workforce training at Robeson Community College; $374,882

— Development of a Rowland business and community center, proposed by Robeson County Community Development Corporation; $350,000

— A mobile medical clinic, proposed by Southeastern Regional Medical Center, $790,934

— ”Learning Acceleration On-Line for the 21st Century” program for the county schools; $250,000.

The Golden LEAF Foundation was created in 1999 to administer one half of North Carolina’s funds from the court settlement agreement between the states and cigarette manufacturers. It focuses on growth in three areas: agriculture; job creation and retention; and workforce preparedness.