LAPEL — Lapel took another step forward in its latest attempt to obtain grant funds to repair long-standing water system issues.
At its latest council meeting Aug. 20, Lapel Town Council conducted a public hearing, which is required, to apply for an Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) grant. The town is seeking the maximum OCRA grant of $700,000 and is contributing $4,021,200 in local funds.
According to Robert Bellucci, project manager of Commonwealth Engineers Inc., the $4.7 million project will involve upgrades and other work to an existing water treatment plant, elevated storage tank and installation of new water mains at various locations through town.
Neil Brook, a certified grant administrator from Kleinpeter Consulting Group, said the local match would consist of $66,000 in the form of the water operating fund and a loan of $3,995,200 from Indiana Finance Authority State Revolving Fund (SRF).
The deadline for submission of a proposal to OCRA is Sept. 24. It will be followed by an OCRA site visit and then a second public hearing, which will be scheduled for October.
“We want to make sure that the citizens are fully informed and have the opportunity to state concerns or give support to the project and ask any questions they have,” Brook said at the meeting.
Applications for a grant are due Nov. 20. OCRA announces award recipients on Dec. 17.
“The big picture, the town is pursuing grant funding through OCRA and in the process of making an application for the maximum grant amount,” Bellucci said during the public hearing. “In support of that, and in order to make our application more appealing to the folks that are going to be doling out grant money, we are also pursing supplemental funding through the Indiana Finance Authority’s SRF.”
Town council President Chad Blake added, concerning the State Revolving Fund, “One of the reasons we’re pursuing this option to finance is the SRF does have a program where they could potentially forgive up to 80 percent of our (amount). In the event that happens, our property taxes will not go up.
“The opportunity to have a large chunk of that debt forgiven combined with the reduction in interest rate, a project of this size is a no-brainer for us.”
Lapel has been denied many times on previous OCRA grant applications. It failed three consecutive times, then sat out a round to reevaluate the project.
For its reevaluation, the town chose to go with a different engineering firm, selecting Commonwealth Engineers, a firm that provides multiple services but specializes in projects that deal with waste water, potable water and storm water problems.
Projects that were part of the town’s unsuccessful OCRA applications totaled less than $1 million.
