3 towns to receive U.S. grants, loans
Three Arkansas towns will receive grants or loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office to expand or upgrade their wastewater treatment systems, according to a news release from the USDA.
The funds are part of $267 million being given to 103 communities that collectively serve nearly a quarter of a million people, according to the release.
Leachville will get a $1.5 million loan to improve its 1980-built system and extend service to 29 new customers in northeast Arkansas.
Wilmot will get an $814,000 grant and a $277,000 loan to fix up its system, which Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality inspectors have said is improperly designed and run. The project "will address all compliance issues while alleviating sanitary health hazards" for the town's 224 residential sewer users, according to the project description attached to USDA's announcement.
A $196,100 grant and a $66,000 loan will do the same thing for the town of Amagon in Jackson County. Department inspectors have found that the town's pump station is deteriorated and at times nonfunctioning.
Metro on 07/22/2018