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July 3, 2009

Goshen to get $5.5 million stimulus

By JESSE DAVIS

Recovery funds are coming to Goshen.

State legislators Rep. Wes Culver, R-Goshen, and Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-District 12, appeared in the mayor’s conference room Thursday morning to announce $5.5 million coming for city water and wastewater projects.

“These stimulus funds will save residents from having to assume the financial burden and pay higher fees to fund necessary infrastructure improvements. This investment in water infrastructure will help not only to serve current residents by improving water quality, but also to prepare Goshen for future economic development opportunities,” Culver said.

The funds will be applied to three major projects in the city. A combined sewer overflow reduction/elimination project, mandated by the state, and installation of a wastewater supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA) will receive $5 million, with the remainder directed to installation of a water SCADA system. Total cost of the wastewater projects is approximately $36.8 million, with the water project cost estimated at $1.5 million.

Application of the funds will make a major difference in sewer rates for residents, according to Mayor Allan Kauffman.

“They were able to get us everything that we qualified for, and the state revolving fund is cooperating by allowing us to wrap existing debt in with the new debt, so that means that the rates are going to be significantly lower than they would have been if we had not been able to do that,” Kauffman said. “So we owe a good debt of gratitude to both Wes and Carlin and the state revolving loan fund for the things that they’re doing for our project. These guys worked hard.”

Utilities Engineer Dustin Sailor said the end of the process entailed several very tight deadlines.

“It just so happened that we are in line at this time and ready to go,” Sailor said. “It was a five-year process getting to this point, and a lot of things have happened quickly here at the end.”

Also in the city’s favor were funds left over from the bond issue for work completed on Third Street several years ago.

“So we had the money available to do the design work for the new facility. A lot of communities don’t have that, they have to go out and bond just to do the design,” Kauffman said.

Rep. Culver said attitudes at the statehouse toward the stimulus fund request were positive.

“They were pretty sympathetic, both representatives, senators and other government positions,” Culver said. “They knew about Elkhart County because they had seen the press.”

Sen. Yoder agreed, and said the projects were exactly the type that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is meant to assist.

“We’re actually sending stimulus dollars spread out to everybody, where their bills should be lower because of this, and we’re putting people to work because of this, so this is an example of the stimulus money actually doing what it’s supposed to do, and that excites me,” Yoder said.

He and Culver knew about the grant on Tuesday, but were unable to make the announcement until Thursday due to business at the statehouse.

“We had this little budget thing we had to get passed first,” Yoder said.

Approximately $125 million in funds from the ARRA will be distributed by the Indiana State Revolving Fund, an existing program managed by the Indiana Finance Authority that makes loans to communities for wastewater and drinking water projects. More information about the revolving fund loan program is available online at www.in.gov/ifa/srf.



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