Grants aid Solon water projects

The village of Solon Springs sanitary district got a bit of good news this week from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Stimulus money from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act will allow four additional clean water projects to be funded through the 154 Environmental Infrastructure Fund. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, created the fund to help communities in the four counties adjacent to Lake Superior. The program pays 75 percent of the cost, matched by local dollars.

Solon Springs, which is under order from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to clean up existing lagoons and build new ones that are lined, is among the projects to be funded.

The village has until 2012 to complete the $4.1 million project, said Village President James Cosgrove.

The current system was built more than 30 years ago, when DNR requirements were not as stringent. Today, the village sanitary ponds are experiencing leakage.

The village is slated to receive $342,000 toward the project, according to an e-mail from Roland Hamborg of the Army Corp.

The Upper St. Croix Lake Sanitary District and town of Gordon in Douglas County, served by the Solon Springs sanitary district are slated to receive $261,000 and $180,000 respectively for sewer projects.

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