City of Tiffin receives grant through American Rescue Plan

Tiffin, Ohio — This week, the City of Tiffin was awarded $390,000 in funding from the State of Ohio through the American Rescue Plan Act – Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Grant Program.

This grant and other funding sources are to be used to eliminate existing septic systems for homes in the City of Tiffin.

Earlier this year, the City of Tiffin submitted an application for $390,000, which is 75 percent of the construction costs of an estimated $520,000 project which proposes to eliminate all existing Household Sewage Treatment Systems (HSTS), otherwise known as septic systems, within city limits. This awarded funding, along with local sewer and other American Rescue Plan Act funding, will fund 100 percent of all associated costs to connect 10 properties to the city’s sanitary sewer system.

This project proposes to improve water quality by reducing the number of illicit discharge events into the city’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. Planning and design for this project will begin in early 2022, with the hopes of beginning construction in late 2022 or early 2023.

The Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Grant Program, administered by the Ohio Department of Development in partnership with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, is to provide nearly $250 million to improve access to clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Grants are being awarded up to $250,000 for design projects and up to $5 million for construction projects to Ohio communities. Public entities within a political subdivision with the authority to own and operate public water and sewer systems and nonprofit, non-community public water systems were eligible to apply.

Tiffin City Engineer Matt Watson said, “I greatly appreciate the State of Ohio supporting our project. This funding will allow us to complete several long overdue projects which will, not only, benefit the properties who have not had accessibility to a public sanitary sewer, but also, will benefit the city as a whole as it pertains to water quality.”

Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz commented, “Thank you to the State of Ohio for its financial support for this very worthwhile project. I also applaud City Engineer Matt Watson for stretching our dollars with these grant funds to get important projects like this achieved without putting the entire burden on the local taxpayers.”