Village applying for sewer grant funding from state

The Milford Village Council has approved a proposal from Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc. (OHM) to prepare a sanitary sewer planning grant application for submission to the state of Michigan.

The village will be applying for an S2 grant from the State Revolving Fund, which is a low-interest loan program with interest rates ranging between 1.625 and 2.5 percent for 20 years. The funding can be used for the design and construction of publicly-owned facilities to improve water quality or protect public health.

Village Manager Arthur Shufflebarger said that the village has needs that still must to be addressed, such as sanitary sewer and manhole relining, lift station repairs and repairs to the village’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Prior to the recent council vote, members listened to a presentation from OHM representatives Matt Parks and Vicki Putala, who said that a state grant could be used towards putting together a plan for improvements to the village’s wastewater collection and treatment system.

The plan would cover village projects over a five-year span and the grant would cover 90 percent of the plan’s preparation, with the village being held responsible for the remaining 10 percent.

In a letter to the village, Parks stated that the application for the grant is due soon, that the village has a great opportunity to qualify for the grant and that the S2 program currently has $40 million available.

He added that according to his timeline, the applications would be due on Oct. 1 and the applications would be reviewed and approved by the state and the grant money would be released in January.

The project plan would then be due in July 2012 and the village would need to begin the engineering design of the first project in October 2012.