Willmar is closer to receiving a $15 million grant from the federal government to build its $80 million wastewater treatment plant project.
The offices of both Minnesota U.S. senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, announced the grant on Tuesday.
The funding is included in the conference report of the Water Resources Development Act. The final steps for the bill will be approval in both houses of Congress before it is sent to the White House to be signed by President Bush.
"This is wonderful news for the city of Willmar and all the people that live and work in Willmar," City Administrator Michael Schmit said Tuesday afternoon.
The new plant will be built west of the city and replace one currently operating in southeast Willmar. The existing plant uses a treatment method that was once thought to be the state of the art but is now considered a failure.
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This is the first major award the city has received to help reduce the amount city residents and businesses will have to pay for the plant, Schmit said. "This is the first good news we've had in a long time with regard to this project."
While it's too soon to tell how it might affect future rates, the federal grant will certainly help control rate increases, he said.
The city has also submitted a request to the state, asking that the Legislature include $20 million for Willmar's plant in its 2008 bonding bill.
"We are hopeful that our representatives in the House and Senate will work very hard to get Willmar included in the bonding bill," Schmit said.
City officials have been talking to legislators about the new plant for several years, and the timing of state assistance will be important, as major construction contracts will be awarded in 2008 and 2009, he said. The plant is to go into operation in 2010.
Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich said Tuesday that the bill could receive final approval in the House and Senate later this week.
Funding for several Minnesota projects is included in the legislation. Some of the Minnesota projects, including Willmar's, were listed in the earlier Senate version of the bill but not in the House version. Their inclusion in the final conference committee report makes their approval nearly certain.
