by Evelyn Pyburn
As the Lockwood Water and Sewer District (LWSD) wraps up the construction of their $9.6 million upgrade of the community’s water treatment plant, board members expressed great satisfaction that the cost of the project was defrayed by $3 million in grants.
Because of a number of issues which caused delays, the project is being completed almost a year past what was originally projected. It was intended to reach substantial completion in March 2022. Fortunately, the delays did not add to its cost, which including engineering fees came in at $9,594.996.
The degree to which the grants helped defray costs to district members “should make news headlines,” said LWSD Chairman, Carl Peters – and so they are.
The project received a $2 million ARPA Grant, a $125,000 RRGL Grant, a $500,000 MCEP grant, and $212,000 Army CORPS Grant, for a total of $2,837,000 in grants – or about 30 percent of the project funding. The remaining cost of the project — $6,757,996.000 is being funded by a combination of District funds and a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan.