Caseville nets $2 million clean water grant

By ohtadmin | on August 03, 2023

CASEVILLE – An ongoing water issue in the City of Caseville is closer to being resolved after the city was recently awarded a $2 million grant through the state of Michigan.

State officials recently announced the city has been given $2 million, as part of its $8 million Substantial Public Health Risk Project (SPHRP) Program, aimed at protecting public and environmental health by removing discharges of wastewater.

The money was awarded for the city’s deteriorating wastewater collection system, which includes an 11,000-foot force main pump, with seven additional sewage pumps, that carries all city wastewater to its lagoon system.

According to city clerk Jamie Learman, the system was put in during the early 90s.

“So you’re dealing with something that’s over 30 years old in the ground,” said Learman. “And the pumps have been pumping since then. Everything is starting to break down and they definitely need to be replaced.”

Learman said in recent years, the city has had an ongoing issue with its force main leaking – and the city has had to dig it up several times for repair. During that time, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) would tell the city it would need to fix the problem before it became catastrophic.

Through various correspondence from EGLE, along with guidance from Midland-based grant writing firm Fleis and Vandenbrink, the city was informed it should also apply for the (SPHRP) grant.

Learman said last fall, the city applied for a several options under the MI Clean Water grants, including a clean water grant, low interest loan, or ARPA funds.

The city anticipates the project to be around $6 million, meaning despite the $2 million already awarded, the city will need another $4 million to complete the necessary work it needs done.

As a result, Learman said the city went ahead with the additional MI Clean Water grants available to state municipalities, in hopes of receiving, at a minimum, one of its low interest loans.

“But we’re really hopeful we can obtain some additional grant funds or some of that ARPA money they’ve set aside,” Learman said.

In the meantime, Learman said the city will most likely sit on the $2 million in funds until it finds out in August or September from the state about additional grant funds that may be awarded.

“We want to know what we’re going to get first, before we start tackling it,” he said. “Once we get the notification here in August or September, then we’ll start the planning.”

Learman said the community should be aware the pump stations are not currently leaking, but have done so in the past, and have been fixed as soon as they have been diagnosed. However, that is not something that can continue.

“It’s definitely a priority and it needs to be addressed, and hopefully we can get the funding to get all this done,” he said.