American Rescue Plan funds to help Adams County village

MENDON, Ill. (WGEM) - It’s been years in the making, and now, Adams County is using American Rescue Plan funds to help the village of Mendon complete a water and sewer project.

After more than a decade of going through grant applications, Mendon Mayor, David Wittler said they’re using $138,000 in federal ARPA money and a match grant from Adams County ARPA money to get replace the 50-year-old lift station.

That station allows them to pump water through their systems so it can be properly treated and discarded. Wittler said they have the money to cash flow the project themselves.

“It’s been in disrepair, probably for the last 15,” Wittler said. “But it would cut our water and sewer funds, considerably stopping us from being able to do maybe an emergency project without a loan. So it’s significantly help us.”

Adams County Board Finance Committee Chairman Bret Austin said the county has about $4.7 million that have been earmarked for transformative projects like this.

“Those are the kinds of things that not only just fix the problem for today, but that allows that village to maybe add more residents add people onto the system. Expand you know. Their property values improve because of things like that,” Austin said.

Wittler said their system isn’t so far gone that it’s posing a threat to the environment.

“But we’re that close to it, because it’s that old. It is deteriorating and of course we don’t want to pollute the ground,” Wittler said.

Mendon residents like Ashley Hamm are glad to see the money being invested into the community.

“I think it’s very important to put that money back into the community, into our water system, so we all have safe drinking water,” Hamm said.

Wittler said they still have some ways to go before completing the project. He said right now they’re 70% done.

Austin said there are other villages in the county like Payson, Ursa, Clayton, and Camp Point that have also applied to use ARPA funds to complete water projects.

He said the County Board will review which projects get approved at their next meeting in July.

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