Marseilles lands $550,000 grant to provide sewer relief to Washington, Union and Bluff street residents

Residents on Washington, Union and Bluff streets in Marseilles soon should get some relief from sewer back ups.

The sewer in the area backs up when the city receives substantial rainfall.

Marseilles city officials were awarded a $538,724 state grant to fix the issue. Officials put in for the grant last summer to realign the sanitary sewers on Union Street near Gum Creek.

“Rainy seasons have been a challenge in Marseilles due to overflow of nearby Gum Creek, which causes flooding and serious challenges for our sanitary sewer system,” said Marseilles Mayor Jim Hollenbeck. “With the assistance of this grant, we will now be able to address important issues that will assist in strengthening the infrastructure that is critical to achieving economic recovery, while providing residents with piece of mind and restoring confidence in the place they call home.”

Marseilles was one of eight communities in La Salle, Bureau and Marshall counties to receive funds from Illinois’ 2020 Community Development Block Grant for Public Infrastructure.

Ottawa, Ladd, Toluca, Wenona, Buda, Sheffield and Wyanet each received the maximum grant of $550,000 from the state.

A total of $18.2 million will be awarded to 34 communities across the state, enabling cities and towns in non-metropolitan areas to make repairs to shared water and sewer infrastructure, announced Gov. JB Pritzker’s office Monday. With projects spread throughout Illinois, an estimated 113,266 residents will benefit from infrastructure upgrades.

Public infrastructure grants are designed to provide communities with funding to improve public infrastructure and eliminate conditions detrimental to public health, safety and public welfare. Eligible uses of funding include repairs and system upgrades for water/sewer lines, as well as new and reconstruction projects including sewer treatment systems, pump stations, and more.

Since the CDBG public infrastructure began, nearly $470 million in CDBG public Infrastructure dollars have been distributed to 1,654 communities around the state. Public Infrastructure program repairs can help alleviate the price consumers pay on their monthly bills, with inadequate or poor-performing sewage systems driving up the cost of sanitary sewer collection and treatment in many cases.

“Reliable access to clean drinking water isn’t a luxury — it’s a fundamental right,” said State Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa). “Our CDBG public infrastructure program will empower communities to not only improve and modernize our aging infrastructure — but to generate new, economic development opportunities that will bring workers back to the construction site and give companies modern infrastructure they can count on.”