Rural communities to receive over $8M in Community Development Block Grants
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More than $8 million in federal grant funding will go to 14 rural communities for the expansion of community facilities and improvement of water infrastructure, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced Thursday.
OCRA distributes Community Development Block Grant funds to assist local government units with community projects like infrastructure improvement, downtown revitalization, public facilities and economic development.
“When quality of life in rural Indiana is high, it improves the quality of life of our entire state,” Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch said in a news release. “I celebrate the work of these rural towns and cities who took the extra step to improve their communities by earning these grants.”
The latest funding is being awarded through the agency’s Public Facilities Program and Wastewater and Drinking Water program.
Eligible projects for the Public Facilities Program create and expand community facilities that enhance the lives of residents such as fire stations, community facilities, libraries, museums, community centers and performance spaces, OCRA said.
The city of Attica and Attica Firefighters Inc. will receive $461,190 for a fire station expansion, including a new truck bay.
The Wastewater and Drinking Water program aims to protect resident and environmental health, reduce utility rates for low-to-moderate income communities and improve rural infrastructure to enable long-term economic growth.
Hagerstown, Hartford City, Morgantown, along with the towns of Akron, Converse, Francesville, Hamlet, Kouts, Montezuma, Perrysville, and Van Buren will each receive $700,000 for various water-related projects.
The town of Brookston was awarded $600,000 for essential improvements to its existing water utility system, and the town of Vernon will receive $515,200 for a wastewater improvement project, including a pollution control barrel to address odor control in the area.
“Congratulations to these rural towns and cities for their hard work in earning these grant funds,” OCRA Executive Director Duke Bennett said. “Quality of life improvement projects such as these can be transformational for our Hoosier communities and their residents.”
Funding for the 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 by OCRA. For more information, visit in.gov/ocra/cdbg.