O’Mara: City of Hornell, village of Arkport and town of Dix awarded water infrastructure improvement grants ~ 2nd Round of funding under New York’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act provides critical support for regional projects (UPDATED, August 16)

Hornell, N.Y., August 15--State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats), Chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, today said that the city of Hornell and the village of Arkport in Steuben County, and the town of Dix in Schuyler County, are among eight Southern Tier municipalities selected to share $13.7 million as part of the second round of funding being awarded under the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2015.

O’Mara, who was instrumental in establishing the grant program as part of the 2015-16 state budget, said, "It’s great news that the state is taking steps to distribute this vital funding as quickly as possible to help localities across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide, undertake these critical water infrastructure improvement projects. We're hopeful that ongoing state assistance will prove successful in helping localities complete vital projects including sewer and pipeline repairs. We're also hopeful that it can represent a long-term model for how the state-local partnership can be strengthened for the good of local environments, local economies and local property taxpayers by helping municipalities meet critical infrastructure needs while remaining within the property tax cap."

The grant awards announced today include the following projects within the state’s 58th Senate District, which O’Mara represents:

> a $3-million Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant for the city of Hornell to undertake a major drinking water infrastructure improvement project.  The grant funding for Hornell will also be supplemented by a $3,830,000 safe drinking water loan from the state’s Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC);

> a $799,250 Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant for the village of Arkport in Steuben County to undertake a drinking water infrastructure improvement project; and

> a $234,600 Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant for the town of Dix in Schuyler County to undertake a drinking water infrastructure improvement project.

The 2016-17 state budget included $200 million in additional funding for water infrastructure improvement grants. The additional funding allowed the EFC to expand eligibility for wastewater projects and provide a total of $175 million in Round 2 grants statewide.  Additionally, the maximum grant amount for drinking water projects was increased from $2 million to $3 million, or 60 percent of eligible projects costs – whichever is less.

[UPDATE, August 16: Read and watch more from:

The Leader, "Hornell, Arkport receive water project funding"

AM 1480 WLEA, "City of Hornell, Village of Arkport, and Town of Dix Awarded Water Infrastructure Improvement Grants"

Odessa File of Schuyler County, "Dix gets grant for water improvement project"

and see the attached article above from the Hornell Evening Tribune.