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Land bank pitches water tower for Westgate industrial park; EDA grant could cover most costs
Summary
Upland Regional Land Bank Director Greg Jones told Daviess County commissioners the Economic Development Administration could fund up to $4 million (80/20) toward a water tower to support Westgate in Crane; relocating the tower could cut about 4,000 linear feet of line and reduce costs by more than $1 million. Engineers will refine benefits and return with detailed estimates.
Greg Jones, director of the Upland Regional Land Bank, told the Daviess County Commissioners on May 12 that a proposed water tower to serve the Westgate industrial park in Crane could win sizable federal backing and is being re-sited to reduce cost.
Jones said the Economic Development Administration has signaled it could provide up to $4 million on an 80/20 grant basis for a project of Westgate’s scale. He said moving the tower location would eliminate roughly 4,000 linear feet of pipeline, which he estimated would lower the project cost by more than $1 million.
"They could go $4 million on a grant and do an 80/20 project," Jones said, describing the EDA’s interest and the requirement for a local match. He told the board that once EDA funds are authorized, local partners typically have about 18 months to complete engineering, environmental review and federal requirements before drawing funds.
When asked whether the tower would serve neighboring counties, Jones said the new facility would tangentially benefit the town of Crane and could touch Green County along County Road 1700 North, the divide between Green and Daviess counties, but he said it would not extend into Martin County. Jones said Eastern Heights utility (in Green County) would own the tower and offered to ask the project engineer for a more specific county-by-county benefit breakdown.
Bryant Niehoff, CEO of the Uplands Science Technology Foundation, told commissioners the effort responds to a long-running, fragmented utility system. "This project is the result of 20 years of this system that is fractured at its core," Niehoff said, adding that the foundation has helped marshal roughly $30 million in infrastructure support to attract investment.
No formal action or vote was taken on the water tower at the May 12 meeting. Jones said engineers will revisit design and costs and return with refined numbers and the specific local match request for the commissioners to consider.
Next steps: the presenters will ask engineers to produce a county-benefit breakdown and updated cost estimates; no funding commitment was made by the board at this meeting.
