Jackson council adopts final plan to seek $20M in federal grant funding for lead service replacement

The Jackson City Council voted unanimously to adopt a final project plan to apply for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) funding, a step that lets the city seek a mix of grants and loans to replace lead service lines and make upgrades at the water treatment plant and across the distribution system.

City staff and consultant Colin McCorkle of Fishback presented the plan during a council meeting public hearing, describing a multi-year package of projects that includes large-scale lead service-line replacement, roughly 11,600 linear feet of small-diameter water main replacement, a blast-and-coat for the East elevated storage tank, and several water-treatment-plant repairs and equipment replacements. "This is the last year that we can get BIL grant money," McCorkle told council, referring to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds that have increased available SRF grant support for lead-line work.

The plan lists a portfolio of projects and cost estimates: about $20 million of the plan is for lead-service-line replacement (the speaker described applying for $20 million with the hope $10 million would be grant-funded), roughly $12 million for water mains, $1.2 million for the East tank recoating, and additional items including a filter-water pipe replacement (~$500,000), a high-service pump (~$750,000), electrical and instrumentation upgrades (~$5 million), cybersecurity (~$2.5 million), chemical-feed system work (~$1.1 million), and storm-sewer and sanitary piping repairs (sub-million amounts). McCorkle said the city is planning a three-year rollout of the projects with the lead-line work front-loaded.

Council held the required public hearing on the final project plan before voting. Residents and technical witnesses spoke during the hearing. Longtime former city treatment-plant employee Davida Quinn urged the council to move ahead, saying "You're gonna either do it now at a lower cost or you're gonna do it later at a higher cost." Resident John C. King and others asked clarifying questions about who would sign as the "authorized project representative" and about how the cost projections would translate to customer rates.

City staff and the consultant told council the SRF process requires the city to list the full set of projects now to be eligible for grants and forgiveness later; projects can be removed later if bids are too high, but items not included in the initial plan cannot be added after the application is submitted. McCorkle noted federal and state mandates on lead-service replacement and cybersecurity as drivers of the work and said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires full replacement of lead services by October 2037.

On the financial side, the consultant presented estimated debt-service impacts. He showed an estimated first-year annual debt payment of about $1,140,000 and indicated later-year payments would be cumulative as additional work proceeds; staff said the residential-bill increase shown in the presentation was conservative and based on a simple division of estimated annual debt by number of services and that a formal rate study will provide a refined number.

Council members asked about alternatives, the longevity of equipment, whether to rehabilitate vs. replace the plant, and how the systems serve neighboring jurisdictions. Staff confirmed that the city's water system serves Summit Township, Blackman Township and the state prison to varying degrees and that those customers are affected by changes in the city's rates according to intergovernmental agreements.

After the public hearing, a council motion to adopt the final project plan and designate an authorized project representative passed unanimously. The adoption allows city staff to proceed with the SRF application and pursue grant funding, including available BIL-related grant forgiveness for lead-service-line replacement.

Council and staff stressed that adoption of the project plan does not commit the city to every listed capital expenditure; projects may be removed before bidding if costs exceed expectations, but projects not included in the adopted plan cannot be added later for SRF grant consideration. The city will complete a formal rate study before any final decisions on user-rate changes.

The council action moves Jackson into the next step of seeking low-interest SRF financing and possible grant forgiveness to address aging infrastructure, lead service lines and critical water-treatment assets.