New Albin receives Community Development Block Grant for new wastewater treatment facility
by Anne Falken
The City of New Albin was recently awarded a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant in connection with its plan for a new wastewater treatment facility. Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded a total of $4.1 million to 11 Iowa communities, including New Albin.
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) played a vital role in helping New Albin obtain this grant. Upper Explorerland is a council of governments that serves as an extension of city and county governments in order to assist them. The organization delivers customized planning, advisory and resource development services to help communities in northeast Iowa maintain infrastructure, while also assisting in other community needs.
The New Albin City Council and its wastewater committee credit Upper Explorerland for its project assistance, including grant writing and all the paperwork with applying for Federal and State funding. Diana Johnson and Ashley Christensen of UERPC were instrumental in the grant writing. Rachelle Howe is the current UERPC Executive Director, and she also recently joined the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board.
The City of New Albin’s principal funding for the new facility, however, will come from Iowa’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. This program is a Federal-State partnership that provides communities a permanent, independent source of low-cost financing for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects. The fund offers the lowest cost loan funding in financing design and construction of publicly-owned wastewater facilities and storm water quality improvements. Communities considered disadvantaged under Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rules can receive a 1.75% interest rate on loans from 20-30 years.
The DNR administers the environmental and permitting aspects to get projects ready for financing, including engineering and design approval and construction permits, and assists applicants through the environmental review process. Iowa Finance Authority manages the financing side of the programs and works with applicants on loan approvals and disbursements.
New Albin’s project committee chair, George Blair, wants the community to be aware of the new costs for water and sewer, with a goal to remain affordable for residents by holding down construction costs. New Albin Mayor Josh Dreps realizes the burden of the monetary cost to New Albin, but also recognizes the change as an opportunity to have wastewater treatment that is “green” and replicates Mother Nature, the first community in Iowa to build this ecological, nature-mimicking wastewater treatment plant.
A greenhouse with solar panels is part of the design, which houses rollers for the liquid waste to pass over. Algae are introduced and grow on the rotating wheels, using light, carbon dioxide and nutrients. Algae produce oxygen, consume carbon dioxide and generate polysaccharides (sugars). Bacteria consume the oxygen and sugars and produce carbon dioxide - completing the cycle. It is a self-regulating system with few mechanical parts or complex controls for staff to monitor.
The next hurdle for New Albin is for the DNR to issue its environmental report, meaning, giving its approval of the site for the new wastewater treatment facility. The current plant sits in the same general location as where the new one will be built, perhaps simplifying the approval process. Schematic CAD drawings of the plant are in the early stages with Fehr-Graham engineers.
The hopeful timeline is to start construction in the spring of 2019, with completion by the fall of 2019. There is much yet to be done involving many moving pieces: the environmental approval process, finalizing drawings from the engineers, firming up financing, and sending the project out for bids, all before the construction can begin.
