HOPE – It has been nearly eight years since Hope’s last major wastewater project.
But the northeast Bartholomew County community has successfully crossed the first of many steps that will hopefully lead toward the creation of a Utility Master Plan. One of the plan’s main objectives will be to create a direct sewage line from the Goshen Meadows Lift Station to a wastewater treatment center.
This rerouting will stop a main feed line from crossing behind the Hope Moravian Church, where problems have been created by storm water becoming mixed with gray water, town council member Clyde Compton said.
An independent research company has completed an income survey that shows Hope with a low-to-moderate income population of 59.259%, program manager Victoria Bechert of the Columbus-based Administrative Resources Association said.
Since that level is above 55%, Hope is eligible to apply for federal Community Development Block Grant funds administered through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), Bechert said.
While the town applied for a $1.1 million for the project grant last year, they did not receive it, Compton said. One reason was that the income survey used was outdated, Bechert said.
For the complete story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
