The Hastings City Council Monday approved City Manager Jeff Mansfield executing an MDEQ Stormwater, Asset Management and Wastewater Program grant, or SAW grant. The city applied for the grant in December, 2013 and was waiting to be selected by a lottery.
Notified in August that the city was eligible for the $712,638 grant, the council voted unanimously to accept it.
The grant requires a 10 percent local match of $79,182 that will come from the water and sewer fund, Mansfield said. It will pay for a digital records management system, full field inspection, an inventory of storm and wastewater infrastructure and a Geographic Information System to create an Asset Management Plan for city storm water and waste water systems, Mansfield said.
The plan will center on maintenance and budgeting for planned improvements and infrastructure replacement that will allow the city be proactive, instead of just responding to emergencies, he said. The city must start a grant funded project within three years or repay the grant, plus interest. They intend to create a similar program for the water system incidental to the storm and wastewater project, he said.
Other area entities eligible for SAW grants include Middleville, Nashville, Hopkins, Martin, Allegan, Coopersville, Caledonia, Rockford and Calhoun County.
