Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced 25 rural Indiana communities will receive more than $12.8 million in federal grant funding to improve water infrastructure and to address blighted properties. 

“These grants are important for our rural communities to continue their economic and community development,” Crouch said. “Not only does this funding help address blight and water infrastructure issues, but also is an important investment to improving the quality of life and quality of place for Hoosiers.”

The State of Indiana distributes Community Development Block Grant funds to rural communities, which assist units of local government with various community projects such as infrastructure improvement, downtown revitalization, public facilities and economic development. 

The City of Greencastle was awarded $700,000 to rehabilitate an at-risk trunk line, which will include the installation of new fire hydrants and new valves that will increase fire protection and system isolation capabilities. The project will also include water treatment plant expansion of electrical capacity to allow the?plant?to function properly and decrease the possibility of water system failure.

“We need to ensure our Hoosier communities have safe, reliable structures and water infrastructure,” said OCRA Executive Director Denny Spinner. “These grants will help towns and cities to make necessary, and sometimes critical, improvements to their water systems or remove blight property to help provide a safe and healthy community for its residents.”

Funding for OCRA’s CDBG programs originates from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program and is administered for the State of Indiana by OCRA.