{"id":27501,"date":"2025-07-10T10:22:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=27501"},"modified":"2025-07-10T10:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:29:19","slug":"funding-seen-likely-for-major-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/funding-seen-likely-for-major-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding seen likely for major project with mega price tag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its latest meeting, Decatur City Council, for the first time, discussed a project that could cost upwards of $21 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ouch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before getting flustered, know that there currently is a 10-year time span to get it done; there is a great chance that funds for the work will be available from the state; and the project can be handled piece-meal over several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federally-mandated Water Utility Improvements project’s primary purpose is to replace lead service lines and aging water mains. It came about, in part, within the last year or so due to the severe nature of the crisis in Flint, Michigan, several years back \u2013 a crisis which is still not totally rectified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report on various aspects of such a project was outlined to Decatur City Council at its meeting Tuesday night by Ben Adams, engineer, and Chris Harrison, business development manager, both with Commonwealth Engineers, Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chris Harrison (left) and Ben Adams<\/em> speak to the Decatur City Council. (Photo by Bob Shraluka)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a discussion and answers to several questions gained, council voted to accept the report and move ahead. \u201cBut you’re not committing to anything,\u201dAdams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams explained that the city has an excellent chance of gaining some funding from the State Revolving Fund (SRF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SRF has a list of 70-some communities around Indiana which are in need of such a project and Decatur ranks eighth in terms of need, which means funding \u2013 and\/or low-interest loans \u2013 seems almost assured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much, though, is the question and Adams said he would expect the city to learn something along those lines within the next 30 or so day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuite frankly, you’re in a pretty envious position\u201d as to chances of gaining some funding, Adams told Mayor Dan Rickord and council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a big deal,\u201d the mayor noted. \u201cand being at the top of the list gives us a good chance to get some funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a public health concern; it’s for our citizens,\u201d added Councilman Jenny Bowers-Shultz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AREAS CITED: The lengthy report prepared by Commonwealth points out 14 different areas in Decatur \u2013 some of the oldest areas with lead service lines \u2013 which would be targeted for improvement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elm St., 13th to Line<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winchester Rd., Canterbury Dr. to Tigers Trail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2nd St., Monroe to Jackson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams St., 13th to 3rd<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jefferson St., 2nd to 10th<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8th St., Adams to Monroe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9th St., Adams to Monroe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10th St., Adams to Monroe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11th St., Adams to Monroe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madison St, 2nd to 7th<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monroe St., 1st to 13th<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6th St., Jefferson to Madison<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homestead Addition (services only)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High St. (services only)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project targets areas that have a dense amount of lead service lines and have aging water mains,\u201d the Commonwealth report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe water mains targeted for replacement are in the older parts of the city, where the water mains are nearing the end of their useful life and require replacement to mitigate main breaks and maintain an adequate level of service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com At its latest meeting, Decatur City Council, for the first time, discussed a project<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,15,21],"class_list":["post-27501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-decatur","tag-featured","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ben-Adams-Harrison.jpg?fit=644%2C411&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27501"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27504,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27501\/revisions\/27504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}