Lincoln County is allocating $398,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act money to invest in local water, sewer and drainage districts serving unincorporated areas of the county.
The county said this week that 13 districts are eligible for grants of up to $50,000, including the Southwest Lincoln Water PUD and Seal Rock Water District.
Other eligible districts include the Lower Siletz Water District, Kernville Water, Beverly Beach Water, Otter Rock Water District, Panther Creek Water, Devils Lake Water, Salishan Sanitary District, Siletz Keys Sanitary District, Gleneden Sanitary District, Millfour Drainage District and Drainage District No. 1.
The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law in 2021 and provided states, cities, and counties with federal money to support pandemic recovery efforts and economic stimulus. One allowed use for the money is to support public water, sewer and drainage projects.
The county will use an open grant process to award the funds.
The grant application is available on the county website and will remain open until all funds are allocated. The applications will be awarded on a first come, first served basis to qualifying districts and projects, the county said.
The county must have signed contracts with the districts before Dec. 31 and all work must be completed before December 2026.
Projects can be stand-alone projects or a portion of a larger project.
Before giving any possible money to water or sewer districts, they need to have audits performed to make sure the individual municipalities are operating efficiently and honestly. The federal and state agencies need to be responsible for the monies given. They need to do the research first on who they’re awarding the grants to and make sure the operations are being managed professionally and their bookkeeping is in order and deserving of grant money.