By ANDREA MCCANN
Indiana Correspondent

OAKLAND CITY, Ind. — Almost $7 million in grants and low-interest loans will allow Oakland City officials to provide improved water and sewer services to residents of the southern Indiana city.

In March, the USDA awarded the city a Rural Development Community Environ-mental Program low-interest loan in the amount of $4,260,000 for improvements to its wastewater collection system.

“That’s the maximum amount we can get,” Mayor Alfred Cooper said. “We may not need that much.” Improvements to the wastewater collection system will prevent hydraulic overloading at the lift stations and provide adequate treatment for everything that flows through the wastewater treatment plant. Currently, stormwater causes overflows, according to Cooper, because the plant just can’t handle it.

“The plant was built in the (19)80s,” he said. “Water gets into the sanitary sewer that the plant can’t handle.”

Cooper explained the Rural Development loan will allow the city to upgrade the plant to handle more water and prevent overflowing. He said two clarifiers will be added to increase the capacity of the treatment plant, and upgrades will be made to the digesters that break down solids.

“We’re going to put in a centrifuge to remove sludge,” the mayor added.
He said it will spin the liquid out of the waste, sand and grit that goes through the treatment plant and leave a dry, caked substance that can more easily be removed and disposed. In that form, he said, it can be used on fields as a fertilizer.
“I hope we can get the sludge classified as Class A,” Cooper said, explaining it can then be used as a soil supplement.

This would not only save the city money in disposal costs, he said, but it could even become a revenue source. He said the project should be completed in a little more than a year.

Oakland City residents also will benefit from a $2,681,000 grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The funds were made available through President Obama’s Economic Recovery Act to create jobs and stimulate the economy. That money will be used for a new water treatment plant, Cooper said.

“The current system is so old the flow is not good,” he said. “We’re going to spend money on the distribution system, replacing old lines and taps.”
The city has about 1,000 “connections,” Cooper said, and services about 2,600-2,700 people plus Oakland City University’s 800-900 students. Work on the water treatment plant and distribution system will begin April 18, according to the mayor, and will take about a year.

A $1 million stormwater grant will be used to improve inflow, the mayor said. “I feel like the storm sewer is the big problem, because Oakland City gets a lot of water standing,” he explained.

Though it sounds like a lot of work all at once, Cooper said financial assistance hasn’t been available in the past, and it was important for city officials to take advantage of the grant and loan programs offered recently. With Interstate 69 being built less than two miles from the city, having an infrastructure that will allow for growth could be beneficial in the near future. “This is the time to do it,” Cooper said. “These three projects are why I ran for mayor.”
Residents will see some increase in fees, but Cooper pointed out the improvements are needed.