Our local elected officials face hard questions. The wastewater treatment facility is an item that takes much research and consideration to come to a decision. Over the past 2 years, the City has been planning for an upgrade to our wastewater treatment plant. The plant is nearing the end of its useful life. Also, the City is nearing the end of debt obligation from the well #4 and East Cherry St. project. It was a good time to consider this project because the application process and grant funding can take multiple years to complete. Criteria of grant eligibility is dependent on household income demographics from the Census. These changes make it advantageous for the City to move forward sooner to be eligible for certain grants, rather than waiting.
The City has contacted our State representatives and our representatives at the Federal level ask for advice and assistance in navigating the grant process. If there are citizens that contact their legislators on a regular basis, please let them know that this is an important issue. Wastewater infrastructure projects are large expenditures no matter what size the community is. Without State and Federal assistance, the burden to the residents of a small community would be overbearing.
