WATKINS -- The Meeker County cities of Watkins and Grove City have received USDA Rural Development Authority funding for community projects.
Watkins received a $4,771,000 low-interest loan and $1,172,500 grant from to replace the city's water and sanitary sewer systems.
The city is also receiving $677,500 from the state water infrastructure fund and will bond for the city's contribution of $724,000.
The total funding for the project is $7,345,000.
The construction will begin in the spring and will replace 80 to 90 percent of the city's water and sewer systems, according to City Administrator Lynn Hokanson.
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Both systems were installed in 1953 and need to be replaced due to age and deterioration, he said.
Grove City celebrated the reopening of the Grove Heights Town Homes on Wednesday. The 26-unit complex was completely rehabilitated with a $834,000 loan from Rural Development and a $294,000 loan from the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority.
The units include one- and two-bedroom apartments that qualify for rental assistance through Rural Development, according to Rural Development information coordinator Adam Czech.
Before the rehab, 80 percent of the units were vacant and several were uninhabitable, he added. Now, all the units are rented or will be soon.
The site was formerly known as the Grove City Community Homes and was the nation's first Section 515 housing project, designated for multi-family housing projects, financed by Rural Development (formerly the Farmers Home Administration) in 1964.
-- Gretchen Schlosser
