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

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 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.  

Projects receiving Wastewater Drinking Water Program grant funding include:

The Town of Bunker Hill is awarded $600,000 to rehabilitate 100 manholes and eliminate 11 sewer cross connections. The project will line and seal the manholes, reducing inflow and infiltration by at least 72%. The proposed project will reduce or eliminate flooding and improve the quality of life for town residents.

The Town of Walton is awarded $700,000 to make improvements to its wastewater collection system and manholes in the northeast section of town to eliminate infiltration and inflow into the system. The goal of this project is to eliminate the surcharging from the sewers into the streets and homes, as well as to address problems at the treatment plant caused by fluid volumes more than the maximum design capacity of the facility.