$1.6 million in federal funds coming to Streator; $250,000 for Ottawa YMCA project

Roughly $1.6 million in projects scheduled in Streator’s capital plan, and paid for through resident sewer bills, will receive federal funding.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured more than $182 million through Congressionally-directed spending for Illinois projects in the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act, including $1.6 million for Streator infrastructure projects, $250,000 for the new YMCA facility in Ottawa and $530,000 to upgrade the wastewater treatment facility in Cedar Point.

The city of Streator is slated to receive $1.2 million in the federal spending bill for the installation of new energy-efficient motors and variable frequency drives in Streator’s WWTP Oxidation Ditch. City Manager David Plyman said Tuesday the wastewater facility is decades old and in need of upgrades.

Streator also is expected to receive $400,000 to install new storm sewers, eliminate combined sewer overflows and reduce residential basement sewer backups. City Engineer Jeremy Palm said Tuesday those funds will go to the city’s ongoing Coal Run separation project. The city has a long term control plan with the Illinois EPA for the elimination of all its combined sewer systems by 2050.

“These are important projects for our city,” said Streator Mayor Tara Bedei. “We’d like to thank our senators for including us and thank our city staff for being prepared for us to get these federal funds.”

Along with Streator, the Ottawa YMCA will receive $250,000 for its new facility, which projects to serve a low-income population in La Salle County.

Construction is underway on the $25.7 million, 67,000-square-foot riverfront YMCA. The Ottawa facility will have a community living room available for everyone, even nonmembers of the YMCA. Additionally, it will have a chapel, a natatorium with a competition pool and a warm water therapy pool, a kids’ adventure center, play and child watch areas, a walking and jogging track that overlooks the gymnasium and wellness area, multigenerational spaces that will provide areas for people of all ages to interact, a multipurpose room, a community demonstration kitchen for healthy eating, group exercise studios, locker rooms, a health and wellness center and clinical space for OSF HealthCare, among other amenities.

On top of the projects in Streator and Ottawa, $530,000 will go to the village of Cedar Point to upgrade the wastewater treatment facility, including dike repairs, sludge removal, rock filter replacement and repairs to the outlet piping.

“Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families – and that’s what this bipartisan funding agreement does,” Duckworth said in a press release. “I’m so proud I was able to help secure critical support for projects all across our state to help clean up our water, improve our state’s infrastructure, expand healthcare access, create jobs and tackle environmental injustice issues facing communities across Illinois.”

“This appropriations package makes significant investments in the future of Illinois,” Durbin said in a press release. “The use of Congressionally-directed spending provides members of Congress, who know their states and districts better than federal agency personnel in Washington, with the ability to direct federal funding to priority projects in their communities. This much-needed federal funding will help localities in Illinois launch important infrastructure projects, improve access to health care, advance environmental conservation, strengthen community violence prevention initiatives, support our rural communities to ensure they have access to the resources they need, and much more.”