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COLUMBUS – The Village of St. Paris is one of 70 projects receiving state grants to address critical water and wastewater infrastructure projects in Ohio communities.
In total, 58 counties will receive more than $114 million.
The $1.5 million in funding for St. Paris comes from Governor Mike DeWine’s Ohio BUILDS (Broadband, Utilities, and Infrastructure for Local Development Success) water infrastructure grant program, administered through the Ohio Department of Development.
This award will support the Village of St. Paris with the waterline replacement project under U.S. Route 36. The current waterline has experienced multiple breaks over the past 10 years and is undersized. Project activities include the replacement of aging and failing 4-inch and 6-inch cast iron waterline, and the installation of new water valves and fire hydrants. Lead service lines will also be removed wherever they are encountered.
This project will benefit 2,089 people.
“Ohio is the heart of opportunity, and for our state to continue to thrive, we must ensure that more communities have steady access to reliable, clean water,” said DeWine. “My administration is committed to supporting as many local communities as possible with water projects that will improve quality of life and give residents more opportunities to live up to their God-given potential.”
This announcement is the fourth round awarded through the program, which opened in July 2021. In total, more than $360 million has been awarded to 253 critical infrastructure projects through the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program.
The Village of St. Paris was the recipient of a OPWC (Ohio Public Works Commission) Grant in 2021 in the amount of $470,000.
“At Development, we’re working to build strong communities so that when people come to our state, we have the infrastructure and amenities to support them,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of Development.
“We’re grateful to the Ohio legislature for additional funding to make these critical investments and help prepare our communities for continued growth.”
In total, the program received more than 1,200 grant applications requesting nearly $1.4 billion in funding.
Funds awarded will help reduce or eliminate the local financial burden associated with critical infrastructure needs such as the construction of new water systems, the replacement of aging water lines, and the installation of new water mains. Grants will also fund projects to prevent sewer system backups and replace failing household sewage treatment systems with new sewers.
“This is great news for our village (St. Paris). We are excited about this funding and the improvements that this project will bring to our community. The replacement of aging infrastructure is expensive but crucial. These grant funds getting back to our community isn’t just great for St. Paris, it’s great for Champaign County. We are appreciative of the support that we received from Champaign County Commissioners Office and Champaign County Engineer, Stephen McCall, in our initial application to the Ohio Department of Development,” said Spencer Mitchell, Village Administrator for St. Paris.
The Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grants are a continuation of Governor DeWine’s H2Ohio initiative, which launched in 2019 to focus on ensuring plentiful, clean, and safe water for communities across the state.
Ohio BUILDS focuses not only on strengthening Ohio’s communities through water infrastructure upgrades, but also supports other necessary investments in targeted solutions that impact quality of life such as broadband expansion, brownfield redevelopment, the demolition of blighted buildings and more.
Additional information on the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program can be found on the program webpage.
The Ohio Department of Development empowers communities to succeed by investing in Ohio’s people, places, and businesses. Learn more about our work at development.ohio.gov.
Info from Ohio Department of Development
