The Ingham County Board of Commissioners plans to spend $1 million in federal funds through 2026 to replace failing wells and wastewater systems.
The money comes from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
County Commissioner Chris Trubac wrote about the spending on Twitter. The Ingham County Health Department estimates the money would cover 75 wastewater system replacements, but about 1,200 in total in the county are failing.
Trubac says he expects the commission’s Human Services Committee to continue discussing the issue. He speculates there might be a desire to see how this first allocation goes to determine the demand and the need for funding in the future.
Trubac adds he hopes to find a solution that can be acted on more quickly, calling the failing systems “an urgent threat.”
"I’m hopeful that we can come up with some way to start addressing these more broadly without just depending on the 75 that come up each year," he said. "Maybe we can take a more proactive approach to finding where are the rest of them and how many can we afford to actually help with.”
The board’s action prioritizes households with a total income that’s less than 300% of the federal poverty level.