New Auburn may receive $300,000 from feds for water treatment
June 28th, 2007Senator Norm Coleman announced that he has secured $300,000 in funding for the City of New Auburn’s drinking water plant in the Senate’s fiscal year 2008 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Commit-tee on Thursday and will then proceed to the Senate floor.
The plant is being built to battle high arsenic levels in the city’s water supply, a costly but necessary upgrade that has presented difficult financial circumstances for the rural community. “I am very pleased to help secure federal dollars for the city of New Auburn to improve its infrastructure – and prevent the significant tax hike that residents would likely face if we were not able to get this done,” Coleman said. “In my tour of Minnesota’s 87 counties last year, I met with Mayor Becker and officials from the City of New Auburn who told me about the burden that upgrading their water infrastructure would have on their community. Today, 8 months later, I am excited to announce that we are making progress on this important request.”
“A new federal rule lowering arsenic levels in drinking water left this city with the unfunded mandate to build a water treatment plant,” said Catherine Lorenz of the New Auburn City Council. “Senator Coleman listened to our problem and worked diligently to find a solution. This grant means that more people will be able to afford living here, as the financial burden on the city of 500 would have otherwise meant triple digit increases in water rates. The city of New Auburn and I would like to thank Senator Coleman profusely for his hard work to make sure we got the help we so desperately needed.”
The City of New Auburn held an “open house” at the new water treatment plant on Saturday, June 23rd from 1-4 p.m. Gerald Woodley of Senator Coleman’s office attended.
