COLUMBUS — A number of north central Ohio communities will benefit from the $109 million Ohio Builds Water Infrastructure Grants announced on Wednesday by Gov. Mike DeWine’s Office.
The $109 million in third-round funding will go toward supporting 101 drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects impacting 106 communities. In total, approximately $250 million in Ohio BUILDS grant funding is going toward 183 critical water infrastructure projects across the state.
Locally, the breakdown looks like this:
Drinking Water Infrastructure Projects
Danville (Knox County) will receive a $500,000 grant to install a green sand filtration system.
This project will remove iron and manganese from the village water and provide safe drinking water for the community. This project will benefit 1,044 people.
Hayesville (Ashland County) will receive a $2 million grant to construct a new water treatment plant to replace an existing plant that has reached the end of its useful life. The plant will include iron and manganese removal, improved treatment, clear wells, high service pump station, generator, connection to new wells, connection to existing system, abandonment of existing wells and treatment plant. The project will also include replacement of obsolete water meters and meter reading equipment. This project will benefit 465 people.
Fredericksburg (Wayne County) will receive a $500,000 grant to replace the Fredericksburg water treatment system due to age and exceedances of manganese limits. The village had exceeded the manganese limits five times in November 2017 and received notices of violation from Ohio EPA. The new plant will include filters to treat for manganese to meet current and future demands. This project will benefit 408 people.
Glenmont (Holmes County) will receive a $1.4 million grant to install a new water main 5,500 feet through the village, which will replace the existing water line. This will also replace 61 public and private lead service connections. This project will benefit 297 people.
Water Infrastructure Projects
Butler (Richland County) will receive a $354,150 grant to repair two sections of storm sewer in the village that has been overwhelmed with excessive stormwater and little to no storm sewers. The rampant stormwater is a hazard to the community and the public facilities surrounding these areas have been damaged and require repair.
The project area around Craig Street will consist of 700 linear feet of storm sewer, nine new or replacement catch basins, ditch work, miscellaneous road repair and concrete work.
The project area around Stewart Avenue will consist of 580 linear feet of storm sewer, three new catch basins, and miscellaneous work to tie the project into the existing infrastructure. This project will benefit 200 people.
Morrow County will receive a $2 million grant for the construction of the SoMoCo lagoon improvements and outfall sewer project which consists of adding treatment processes to the existing lagoon wastewater treatment plant facility to provide treatment to meet effluent requirements.
Additional treatment will be added to treat for ammonia and phosphorus. The project also includes approximately 6,000 linear feet of gravity sewer to discharge treated effluent to Alum Creek. This project will benefit 1,525 people.
“Clean drinking water is part of the foundation for a good quality of life, yet too many communities in Ohio can’t reliably provide residents with this basic necessity due to crumbling infrastructure has been too expensive to fix,” DeWine said. “My administration is committed to helping our communities address these important water issues, and we look forward to additional conversations with the Ohio General Assembly about the potential of expanding this program with additional funds.”
The Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program, announced by Governor DeWine in October, was funded by the Ohio General Assembly as part of House Bill 168, sponsored by State Representatives Mark Fraizer (R-Newark) and Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta), with funding that was appropriated through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“Governor DeWine and I have made water quality and protecting our natural resources in Ohio a priority, and it is great to see the legislature prioritizing it as well, ” said Lt. Governor Husted. “Water quality isn’t just about protecting our health, it’s also about our quality of life and our economic future.”
Since applications for the program opened in late July, the Ohio Department of Development received more than 1,200 grant applications requesting nearly $1.4 billion in funding.
“As evidenced in the number of applications submitted, the need for these projects is great,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of Development. “We are committed to working with the Ohio legislature to fund additional projects through the program.”
Governor DeWine created the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program to reduce or eliminate the local financial burden associated with critical infrastructure needs, such as the construction of new water systems, the replacement of aging water lines, and the installation new water mains.
Grants are also funding projects to prevent sewer system backups and replace failing household sewage treatment systems with new sewers.
