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$500,000
windfall coming
Lincoln's way
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[JULY 29, 2003]
Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis
received a call from U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood that brightened her day.
LaHood was calling to say that the city of Lincoln has been awarded
a $500,000 federal HUD/VA wastewater treatment plant grant.
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The city broke ground on a $9.8 million
plant development last November. [See
LDN article.] New EPA regulations and an increasing usage demand
while already operating at full capacity made the plant upgrades and
expansion a necessity. Though federal and state funds were sought,
none had come through for the project to date.
Mayor Davis and three aldermen -- Bill
Melton, now retired former chair of the sewer committee; Verl
Prather, chair of the finance committee; and Steve Fuhrer, former
finance chair -- along with Grant Eaton, sewer plant manager from
Environmental Management Corp., created a legislative task force.
With EMC in the lead, the task force took an expedition to
Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22 and 23 to seek funds for the project.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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The grant has just passed through the
bills committee. The bill will need to
be passed in full measure by both the U.S. House and Senate by or
near Oct. 1. If the bill passes both houses, the money may be
available to the city as early as Jan. 1, 2004.
Mayor Davis said, "[The trip] will have
paid off for the city if the bill passes in its entirety, which
Congressman LaHood believes it will."
She added, "I just want to publicly
thank Congressman LaHood, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and U.S. Sen. Peter
Fitzgerald for their work on this grant, as well as the city council
members and EMC who assisted me in
this endeavor."
Davis said
this is great news for our city!
[Press
release and Jan
Youngquist]
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