Federal, state funds roll in for Ritzville and Lind

The Washington State Department of Commerce announced on Oct. 3 that the city of Ritzville and town of Lind were two of 25 rural local or county governments in the state to receive funding as part of the Community Development Block Grants for 2019.

It’s just some of the recent funds—in the form of grants or loans—received by east Adams County communities from the federal and Washington state government in the past several months.

The city of Ritzville is receiving $624,790 in CDGB funds for sewer system improvements that will go toward the rehabilitation of Pete’s Lift Station, a wastewater facility. The total project is estimated to cost $1.26 million to complete, and includes replacing an overloaded sewer main immediately downstream, which surcharges to within two feet of ground level when the station is operating.

Pete’s Lift Station is over 70 years old, and the city says it is “old, deteriorated, unsafe, does not meet regulatory minimums for redundancy and backup power, and is progressively failing.” The station’s current conditions, the city said, is creating health and safety risks as well as imposing “significant” financial hardship on the city.

The city is also receiving $24,000 in CDBG funds to go toward the sewer collection preliminary design report, which has a total estimated cost of $40,860.

The town of Lind is receiving $750,000 in CDBG funds for improvements to the town’s water system. The $750,000 matched the project’s total estimated cost, and was one of just four out of the 27 projects to receive complete funding from the grant.

“The Community Development Block Grant program has aided many towns in my district and other rural parts of Washington over the years,” said State Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) in a statement. “It’s one of the better programs operated by our state.”

In all, $10.5 million in CDBG funds were awarded to rural communities in 2019. Washington’s CDBG program receives an annual funding allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and use the funds to help assist lower income communities in the state’s rural areas. The program can fund sewer, water and other infrastructure projects, community facilities, economic development programs and more.

“Partnering with local governments to create infrastructure is essential to our mission of strengthening communities,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown in a statement. “The grants we are announcing today will result in cleaner water, safer streets, and ultimately, a higher quality of life in towns, cities, and counties across Washington state.”

USDA Rural Development

The city of Ritzville’s loan and grant request for over $7 million in funds from the USDA Rural Development Water & Environmental Programs was approved last month, it was announced at the Ritzville City Council meeting on Oct. 1.

The city’s grant request for $3.91 million and loan request for $3.47 million was approved by the USDA in a Sept. 11 letter to Mayor Gary Cook. The loan has a fixed interest rate of 2.125% and is to be repaid over a 40-year term. The council authorized Cook to sign the grant/loan contract at the Oct. 1 meeting.

Cook clarified at the meeting that while the city is obligated to the contract, the projects will drive how much of the funds that the city actually uses. Clerk-Treasurer Julie Flyckt said that the city’s water rates will not be affected.

The projects expected to be covered by the USDA Rural Development funds include: a new replacement well for Well No. 8, rehabilitation of the Koch Well’s pump station electrical equipment, rehabilitation of the Ritzville Golf Course Well pump station, water storage of the standpipe reservoir, improvements to the Ritzville City Park reservoir, and replacing existing old undersized water mains from 2-6 inches up to 12 inches for the city’s water distribution system.

“This is stuff that’s really been in our plans for a long time,” said councilmember Dennis Chamberlain.

Department of Ecology

The city of Ritzville also received a grant/loan offer of $1.23 million for the rehabilitation of Pete’s Lift Station from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The offer came after the city applied for funding via the department’s Water Quality Combined Funding Program, which provides annual funding to projects aimed toward improving and protecting water quality throughout the state. The program combines state and federal funding sources to provide grants and loans to the projects.

Of the $1.23 million in funding offered by the program to the city, $416,649 is offered via a grant and the other $813,351 is offered via loans.

By receiving the CDBG funds that are also helping fund the Pete’s Lift Station rehabilitation, Flyckt said at the Oct. 1 city council meeting that the city won’t have to use as much of the loan that they originally were planning on using.