Village of Dresden in Yates County awarded NYS Water Infrastructure Improvement Grant

Dresden, N.Y., August 16--State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats), Chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, today said that the village of Dresden in Yates County is one of four Finger Lakes region municipalities selected to share $6.7 million as part of the second round of funding being awarded under the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2015.

Grant awards for the city of Hornell and the village of Arkport in Steuben County, and the town of Dix in Schuyler County, were announced yesterday.

O’Mara, who was instrumental in establishing the grant program as part of the 2015-16 state budget, said, "It’s great news that the state is taking steps to distribute this vital funding as quickly as possible to help the village of Dresden and other localities across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide, undertake these critical water infrastructure improvement projects. We're hopeful that ongoing state assistance will prove successful in helping localities complete vital projects including sewer and pipeline repairs. We're also hopeful that it can represent a long-term model for how the state-local partnership can be strengthened for the good of local environments, local economies and local property taxpayers by helping municipalities meet critical infrastructure needs while remaining within the property tax cap."

O’Mara said that the village of Dresden will receive a $140,814 Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant to undertake a drinking water infrastructure improvement project. 

The 2016-17 state budget included $200 million in additional funding for water infrastructure improvement grants. The additional funding allowed the EFC to expand eligibility for wastewater projects and provide a total of $175 million in Round 2 grants statewide.  Additionally, the maximum grant amount for drinking water projects was increased from $2 million to $3 million, or 60 percent of eligible projects costs – whichever is less.