The Village of Washburn will be able to replace a significant section of its old and undersized water distribution system now that it has secured a $300,280 grant from Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO).  Mayor Bridgit Marquez was notified recently by the state that the Village will receive the grant for the Main-Church-Echols water main project.  

The Village will be able to replace the four-inch mains on Church Street from Madison Street to where the line ends at Washington Street, install a new main from that point through the park to Main Street, and replace the line from the 300 block of North Main to Echols and replace the two-inch line on Echols with six- , eight and 12-inch mains. The Village will match the grant with $94,070 of its own funds.

“This is great news for the residents of those areas”, said Mayor Marquez.  “They will now have adequate volume and pressure as well as clean, drinkable water ”, she added.  "We would not have been able to make these much needed improvements without the grant."

The grant, which is the federally funded Community Development Assistance Program (CDAP), was applied for February 20, 2006.  The grants are for projects that principally benefit “low- and  moderate-income” (LMI) persons, a federal requirement, and resolve a serious threat to the public health and safety.  Beyond that, DCEO ranks the applications based such factors as financial need, fiscal responsibility and readiness.  

The Village’s application competed against other, non-metropolitan communities state-wide.  The grant application was prepared by the Economic Development Council (EDC) for Central Illinois.  The EDC will also administer the project for the Village.