The grant is part of $1.369 billion in Rural Infrastructure Authority funding to more than 200 communities across the state to assist with improvements for clean drinking water, sanitary sewer and stormwater resilience.
The three Lake City projects will help protect the quality of life, address long-term sustainability, and provide new opportunities for growth and development in the Lake City community. They include:
- $3,045,000 in sewer system rehabilitation including a new pump station serving the Cole Road/Davis Street area
- $3,075,000 in sewer system rehabilitation at Martha Law Estates
- $3,765,000 for wastewater treatment plant headworks improvements
The city applied for the grant in June 2022 to address existing wastewater issues and to make improvements and repairs to prevent future problems. The total cost of the projects is $9,885,000 and the city must match 15 percent of the funding.
“We received a $1 million state revolving fund principal forgiveness loan which goes a long way to providing our matching funds,” said William A. Hall, City Administrator. “Those funds will not have to be paid back as long as the city completes its obligations in the projects. However, that still leaves $482,750 that the city must come up with and is one of the reasons we increased our water rates.”
“These are projects that must be accomplished to modernize and upgrade critical facilities to keep our city healthy and provide the infrastructure for future growth,” said Hall. “Being able to fund a 15-percent match for a grant allows us to address our infrastructure issue with as little cost to the community as possible.”
The S.C. Infrastructure Investment Program was created by RIA as a major, one-time initiative designed to have a transformative impact on water, wastewater, and stormwater systems in small and disadvantaged communities as well as larger, growing communities using federal funds allocated by the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act.