MOUNT VERNON — Following a second public hearing on Tuesday, Knox County commissioners approved applying for grant money to replace a water line in Danville.
The $500,000 Community Development Block Grant upgrades about 1,725 linear feet of 8-inch water line on South Market Street. The lines experience frequent breaks, resulting in water shortages for residents and subsequent boil alerts.
“This is really an important project for us to try and get our water system more modern,” Danville Mayor Joe Mazzari said.
“In many sections we’ve replaced and repaired, and they’re in decent shape, but this is one of the more problematic areas.”
The line is a main feed into the community in the southern part of the village.
The Critical Infrastructure Grant pays up to $500,000. The water line project costs $470,000; $30,000 will go toward administrative fees.
“This project is something that’s super exciting for Danville.”
jillian flowers, cdbg consultant with cdc of ohio
“So this will be 100% grant funds. Danville does not have to put any dollars toward this project,” Jillian Flowers of CDC of Ohio said.
CDC of Ohio is a consulting firm Knox County uses to apply for grants.
Construction will take about four months.
Project manager Mike Crane of V3 Companies said crews will directionally drill most of the work, but there is a small portion located within the roadway.
“We tried to limit [the impact]. For sure there will be one lane of traffic maintained,” he said. “It will be a little bit of a hassle for a week or two.”
Water line replacement long overdue
The village started the project in 2018 or 2019. The goal was to replace the entire water line along Market Street.
The village applied for but did not receive ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money. Ohio Public Works Commission money paid for replacing several hundred feet on the north end of the line.
“The village did take out an EPA loan for design [costs], just to have this ready to go when we found funding,” Crane said.
“So they may not be putting into the construction cost, but they have paid a significant amount into design in that north end.”
Crane said the village scaled down the project to fit the budget.
“So there is more phasing [to come], but we’ve tried to identify the most critical areas right now,” he said.
The application deadline is this week, and the state typically awards the grant in August or September.
An environmental review is expected to take approximately six months.
Flowers expects the state to release the funds on Feb. 15, 2026. Once that occurs, the village can bid the project.
The construction start date depends on the contractor’s schedule, but Crane anticipates getting a successful bid in March and a completion date of late summer.
“This is a project that is long overdue,” Flowers said.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the village did not qualify for CDBG money.
“They were able to qualify this project because they did an income survey, which is very extensive, and … the state has given it their approval.”
The survey found that 60.9% of Danville residents have low to moderate incomes. The survey results are good for five years.
