MoDNR awards $410 million in community water infrastructure grants

By Dave Marner, Managing Editor
Posted 11/23/22

Several communities in the four-county region covered by Warden Publishing, Co., newspapers are scheduled to receive funding from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to inventory their …

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MoDNR awards $410 million in community water infrastructure grants

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Several communities in the four-county region covered by Warden Publishing, Co., newspapers are scheduled to receive funding from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to inventory their lead service lines through a $410 million project to improve drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.

The city of Meta was selected to receive $52,228.64 to conduct an inventory of the community’s lead service lines used for water supply. The local cost share for the project is $795.36, with the city ranked 37th out of 171 applications received.

Ranked 40th was the city of Bland, which is set to receive $55,000. Bland officials are scheduled to contribute $550 as the city’s match for the cost share.

Ranked 54th was the city of Chamois, which was selected to receive $118,000. The city will contribute a $2,000 match.

Belle’s application was ranked 69th, and the community is scheduled to receive $115,000 with a $2,000 matching contribution in local funds.

The city of Linn is scheduled to receive $92,753 and will contribute $1,200 for the local match.

“We knew this program was critically needed for communities across our state, and that’s why we included it in this year’s budget,” said Gov. Mike Parson in a release issued on Nov. 18. “While we know more is still needed to upgrade our infrastructure and ensure reliable water resources for the next generations, these grants will leverage even greater local and private investments to help boost our competitiveness for economic development projects and ensure our communities in every corner of Missouri are finding success.”

“We received approximately 1,000 applications requesting more than $2.4 billion in funding,” said DNR Director Dru Buntin. “We designed the specific scoring criteria to ensure that the limited funds available are awarded to projects in a way that maximizes the impact of those funds across Missouri — in communities both urban and rural, large and small.”

The city of Gerald in Franklin County, ranked 74th, is eligible for $200,000 in funding to inventory its system of lead water lines. A $2,000 cost share match was pledged. However, the city is “waitlisted” on the award.

The No. 3 Public Water Supply District in Osage County was ranked 115th and is eligible for $170,000 in assistance but was not selected for funding at this time.

Also eligible for funding but not being awarded the money now were the city of Rosebud (ranked 126th, $63,857, with a $10,000 local match) and the Public Water Supply District No. 1 of Osage County (ranked 131st, $115,000, $1,200 local match).

DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

Applications from 10 communities in the WPC coverage area are listed as eligible for drinking water infrastructure grants, but the entities were not selected for the awards.

One community, Meta, was listed as “waitlisted” on a request for $5 million with a $50,000 matching portion pledged. The Meta application was ranked 57th out of the 371 requests submitted.

Ranked 60th, the city of Chamois sought $2,465,000 and pledged matching funds of $750,000.

The city of Bland is eligible to receive $940,300 with a $9,500 match but was not selected to receive the assistance. The city’s application was ranked 96th.

With a 137 ranking, the city of Linn is eligible to receive $3,160,050 but was not selected as a recipient. The city’s match was listed as $31,950.

Eligible for $5 million in funding, the city of Belle had pledged $50,000 in matching funds and was ranked 161st out of the 371 communities seeking assistance. No award was made, however, according to data from DNR.

The city of Gerald, ranked 173rd, sought $5 million with a $50,000 match. The city’s application was listed as eligible but not selected for funding.

Also eligible but not selected for funding was the Osage County Public Water Supply District No. 3, which had sought $4,889,292 and pledged $100,000 in matching funds.

Also eligible but not selected for funding were:

• Osage County Public Water Supply District No. 1, ranked 299th, $3.5 million, $35,000 match.

• Public Water Supply District No. 1 of Gasconade County (Peaceful Valley Lake community), ranked 301st, $1,864,400, $500 match.

• Public Water Supply District No. 2 of Osage County, ranked 328th, $1,904,762, $400,000 match.

Seven of the communities in this immediate area were eligible but not selected for funding to upgrade wastewater infrastructure, including:

• Bland, ranked 99th out of 329 applicants, $2,573,400, $26,000 match.

• Gerald, ranked 104th, $3,048,635, $31,000 match.

• Linn, ranked 106th, $3,595,860, $36,350 match.

• Owensville, ranked 126th, $2,616,000, $655,000 match.

• Belle, ranked 160th, $5 million, $50,000 match.

• Rosebud, ranked 225th, $2,715,761, $350,000 match.

• Hermann, ranked 244th, $1,177,500, $294,500 match.

Funding for the department’s four competitive water infrastructure grant programs was made available through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery Funds. Applications were scored based on the applicant’s financial need, engineering capability, and the necessity of the project. Given the limited amount of funding, this resulted in a highly competitive application environment, according to the governor’s office and DNR.

Applicants, whether successful or unsuccessful, will receive a notification email from the state of Missouri’s ARPA funding portal detailing the status and score of their application. DNR announced the availability of $410 million for community water infrastructure grants in May, and the application period closed on July 14. The program was part of Parson’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal to the Missouri General Assembly.