Borough seeks federal grant to cover shortfall on water plant project

The borough needs to fill a funding gap of almost $10 million before it can upgrade its water treatment plant. The new design would increase the plant’s water output and storage capacity to accommodate future growth.

The low bid for construction came in at $19.6 million, but borough officials estimate that the total cost will be closer to $24.2 million — a figure that factors in engineering and inspection costs.

The borough has $14.3 million available for the project, mostly state and federal money. On Aug. 31, the borough submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a $9.9 million grant to cover the remainder.

The request was forwarded to USDA’s Washington, D.C. office but “the response timeline from D.C. is unknown,” wrote Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad in an email to the Sentinel.

USDA may choose not to fund the entirety of the grant. “If USDA does not fund our request in total, the borough would need to consider what level of additional money (it) could contribute … in advance of the project,” Al-Haddad continued.

However, Public Works Director Tom Wetor is hopeful about the borough’s chances, since the federal grant program has excess funds that it needs to use up before the end of the fiscal year. The federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

The USDA representatives he’s been working with are “optimistic that we’re going to get the funding that we’re asking for,” he said. “There’s additional money and we’ve been working on it for a long time.”

The water plant upgrade will normalize chemical levels in the community’s water and increase the plant’s output and storage capacity, allowing for potential economic and population growth.

The new plant design features an automated chemical dosing process that will react to changes in water use in real time. As it stands, Public Works staff change chemical doses manually, making it difficult to react to the drop in demand that typically happens overnight.

“There should be less instances of ever tasting chlorine in your water,” Wetor said of the upgraded plant in an earlier interview.

It will also help the borough prepare for future development of the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision and 6-Mile mill property, along with the possibility of Trident’s return to operations continuing past this summer. “Those things will have a significant impact on our water usage,” Wetor said.

 

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