ASHLAND — Ashland County is slated to receive $3.8 million in state grants aimed at helping communities fund critical water infrastructure projects.
The money will be divided among Hayesville, Perrysville and Cinnamon Lake and is part of Ohio’s BUILDS Water Infrastructure grant program.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced Monday that more than $109 million has been awarded in the program’s third round. The money is earmarked for 101 drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in 106 communities.
Hayesville is slated to receive a $2 million grant from BUILDS.
It will go toward the village’s construction of a new water treatment plant, which will replace its existing plant that serves 465 people and feature updated technologies used for treating water.
The project has been estimated to cost $2.6 million. The state’s injection means almost all of the cost will be covered because the village recently received $500,000 in American Rescue Plan dollars from county commissioners.
Ashland County commissioners divvied $2.9 million in ARP money to villages and the city of Ashland in September.
Perrysville is receiving an $800,000 grant that will go toward its second phase of wastewater treatment plant improvements that include replacing raw sewage pumps and replacing around 1,700 linear feet of main sewer lines.
Officials estimate the project will benefit 683 people.
Perrysville Village also received $500,000 in ARP money from the county that has been earmarked for the wastewater project. Ohio’s announcement of the $800,000 BUILDS grant means the project’s cost is covered.
Another $1 million grant will go toward installing two new raw sewage pumps at the Cinnamon Lake pump station, which will benefit 1,430 people. Cinnamon Lake is a census-designated area within Jackson Township.
The project involves construction of around 22,000 linear feet of piping and a maintenance building at the existing Cinnamon Lake wastewater treatment plant site.
Officials in the communities that are scheduled for BUILDS awards were not immediately available to comment.
DeWine said in a statement his administration is committed to addressing water issues across Ohio.
“Clean drinking water is part of the foundation for a good quality of life, yet too many communities in Ohio can’t reliably provide residents with this basic necessity due to crumbling infrastructure (being) too expensive to fix,” he said.
A total of $250 million in grant funding will be invested in water infrastructure projects as part of the new Ohio BUILDS initiative, which DeWine and Husted announced in October. The Ohio General Assembly subsequently funded the program in November.
