ANSONIA — The Village of Ansonia is one of 70 projects receiving state grants to address critical water and wastewater infrastructure projects in Ohio communities. ln total, 58 counties will receive more than $114 million. Ansonia’s share of the grant money is $750,000.

The funding comes from Governor DeWine’s Ohio BUILDS (Broadband, Utilities, and Infrastructure for Local Development Success) water infrastructure grant program, administered through the Ohio Department of Development.

The award will support the Village of Ansonia with the installation of a new 100,00 gallon water tower. This grant will allow Ansonia to replace an approximately 100-year-old 30,000-gallon water tower. The project will also include constructing a concrete foundation for the new tower and the demolition and disposal of the old tower.

“Ohio is the heart of opportunity, and for our state to continue to thrive, we must ensure that more communities have steady access to reliable, clean water,” said Governor DeWine. “My administration is committed to supporting as many local communities as possible with water projects that will improve quality of life and give residents more opportunities to live up to their God-given potential.”

The announcement is the fourth round awarded through the program, which opened in July 2021. In total, more than $360 million has been awarded to 253 critical infrastructure projects through the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program.

“At Development, we’re working to build strong communities so that when people come to our state, we have the infrastructure and amenities to support them,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of Development.

“We’re grateful to the Ohio legislature for additional funding to make these critical investments and help prepare our communities for continued growth.”

In total, the program received more than 1,200 grant applications requesting nearly $1.4 billion in funding.

Funds awarded today will help reduce or eliminate the local financial burden associated with critical infrastructure needs such as the construction of new water systems, the replacement of aging water lines, and the installation of new water mains. Grants will also fund projects to prevent sewer system backups and replace failing household sewage treatment systems with new sewers.

“The Village of Ansonia has been applying for grants for this project for the past five years and was very happy to hear that they had received this grant said Village Administrator Tom Welbaum. He went on to say that the Village plans to use this grant as match money to hopefully secure another grant from a different source. The water tower project has an engineering estimate of 1.5 million dollars.”

The Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grants are a continuation of Governor DeWine‘s H20hio initiative, which launched in 2019 to focus on ensuring plentiful, clean, and safe water for communities across the state.

Ohio BUlLDS focuses not only on strengthening Ohio’s communities through water infrastructure upgrades, but also supports other necessary investments in targeted solutions that impact quality of life such as broadband expansion, brownfield redevelopment, the demolition of blighted buildings, and more.

Additional information on the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program can be found on the program webpage.

The Ohio Department of Development empowers communities to succeed by investing in Ohio’s people, places, and businesses. Learn more about our work at development.ohio.gov.