The City of Knox is looking to stretch its federal COVID-19 money as far as possible. Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council last week that Knox has gotten the first $400,000 of its American Rescue Plan money.
“So many small grants are coming out, that basically, you can use – especially for [Community Development Block] Grants – you can use your ARP money for the match, and we have done that,” he explained
Specifically, the city is applying for money from the State Water Infrastructure Fund (SWIF) program for two projects. During last week’s board of works meeting, Water Superintendent Tim Lindewald said he’s seeking funding to replace the iron filters, which could cost $100,000. “I did get the results back from our water test,” he said. “We will have to change our whole filtration system out because we are high in manganese. It’s bad bad. So this is something we really need to look into.”
Meanwhile, Wastewater Superintendent Jason Clemons is planning major upgrades for the McGill Street lift station, saying the converted wet well isn’t big enough to handle the growth on that side of town.
Estok told council members that there’s a lot of competition for SWIF money, but he’s offered a 20-percent match to boost city’s application. While there will be another round next year, Estok wasn’t sure that the water filtration upgrades would be able to wait until then.
