The City of Houston will receive $3.5 million in federal stimulus money that will aid in the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant.
The city will open bids for the project, which replaces a 1970s-era plant, on July 20.
A $1.75 million grant – along with a $1.75 million low-interest loan and another $500,000 coming from a rural sewer grant – will help residents who earlier approved up to $3.5 million in revenue bonds that required an increase in sewer fees.
The city undertook the project after it learned new, tougher standards would make it impossible to comply with its current facility north of Walnut Street along Brushy Creek. Along with a new plant, a lagoon will be cleaned and used only as a drainage basin in the event of heavy rain.
Missouri is slated to receive about $108 million in wastewater funding, a significant increase because of the availability of the stimulus money, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.