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IRON MOUNTAIN -- Roughly a quarter of the lead service lines that need replacing in Iron Mountain's water system could be fixed under a $4.6 million grant and loan program the city is ready to accept.
City council members gave approval Tuesday, with locations yet to be determined.
Funding will come through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund administered through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
The proposed aid includes a loan of $2.33 million at 2% interest for 20 to 40 years, plus an additional $2.24 million with principal forgiveness, essentially making that portion a grant.
City Manager Jordan Stanchina estimated 425 lead service lines could be replaced out of more than 1,700 remaining. The actual number needing replacement could be fewer, as some have been fixed through the years without being designated, he added.
The city had submitted a $13.2 million project to EGLE that included $4.6 million in lead service line replacements. The grant and loan offer is only for the latter.
On Tuesday, the council agreed with Stanchina the best course is to set the $13.2 million project aside, reapply in 2024, and use the $4.6 million for service line work elsewhere. EGLE is agreeable to this approach but wants notification by the end of the month, he said.
Scott Nowack, project manager for Coleman Engineering of Iron Mountain, has helped guide the application process. The city initially finished out of the running for fiscal year 2024 funding before the $4.6 million offer came through this month.
The EGLE program is funded at a much higher level than in the past because of federal aid, some of which will be going away, Nowack told the council Tuesday. Still, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in late 2021 gives the city "a decent chance" of getting help for the $13.2 million project that's being shelved, he said.
The lead service line replacements could be bid on a per-unit basis, including street patching, as there is no sure way of knowing the locations, Nowack said. Stanchina suggested 700 to 800 homes could be identified in one area of the city, with work proceeding until the contract is exhausted.
Mayor Dale Alessandrini said he'd like to see each of the city's four wards get some attention, but Stanchina and others noted that would add significantly to mobilization costs.
Under a 2018 state order, Iron Mountain has to replace all of its lead service lines by about 2041, even though its drinking water tests have shown no distressing contamination. In most cases, the work is needed because of "gooseneck" connections containing lead, which were phased out in the 1950s or early 1960s.
Coleman was hired in February at a cost of up to $14,000 to prepare a package so Iron Mountain could seek a share of the state's water and sewer funds. Among the proposed areas in the $13.2 million water project being delayed are parts of South Kimberly Avenue; and West Hughitt, Lake, Forest, Adams, West A, East E, East B, East C, Norway, Sixth and Seventh streets.