Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs today announced 17 rural Indiana communities will receive $11.1 million in federal grant funding to create and expand community facilities, and improve water infrastructure.

“I applaud the local leaders across Indiana who always take the extra step when it comes to bettering the lives of their community members,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, “I look forward to seeing how each of these projects revitalize rural Indiana.”

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.

“Quality of life improvement projects such as these can be transformational for our rural towns and cities,” said OCRA Executive Director Denny Spinner. “I commend the leaders in each of these 17 communities for investing in critical infrastructure needs to improve their public facilities, stormwater management and wastewater or drinking water systems.”

The Stormwater Improvement Program strives to reduce flooding, cut stormwater treatment and energy costs, protect rivers, lakes and vital landscapes, and generate jobs to spur economic revitalization.

Among projects receiving Stormwater Improvement Program grant funding include:

The Town of Cloverdale is awarded $600,000 to make necessary improvements to its stormwater system. The scope includes improvements to various culverts and the creation of new open ditches. This project will correct ponding water and improve stormwater infrastructure that is currently undersized to address stormwater backup experienced by residents.

The goals of the Wastewater/Drinking Water Program are to protect public health and the environment, reduce utility rates for low-to-moderate income communities, and improve rural infrastructure to enable long-term economic growth. 

Among projects receiving Wastewater Drinking Water Program grant funding include:

The Town of Clay City is awarded $700,000 to build a new elevated water tower and to demolish the existing tower. The current tower is a 75,000-gallon water tank built in 1949. The new tower will reduce the amount of boil orders and improve water pressure for residents.

The Town of New Market is awarded $700,000 to make improvements to the wastewater treatment plant, including installing a submerged aerated gravel reactor system to reduce the levels of pollutants such as ammonia in the wastewater. The SAGR system improves the overall efficiency of the plant by reducing the pollutants entering the system, improving the quality of wastewater entering the treatment plant, and as a result, reducing the cost of the treatment. Additionally, the plant will switch from a controlled discharge to a continuous discharge. This will allow the wastewater treatment plant to discharge whenever needed to help reduce overflows in the community.

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