WALSH ANNOUNCES CLOSE TO $1.5 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES

(Syracuse, New York)- Congressman James T. Walsh today announced close to $1.5 million in grants to help rehabilitate housing, provide modifications for homes with handicapped residents, and improve public sewer and wastewater treatment systems in Wayne and Cayuga Counties. The grants will be provided through the Governor's Office for Small Cities (GOSC) Community Development Program, funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"I'm pleased that Governor Pataki is awarding Small Cities funding to communities throughout Wayne and Cayuga Counties," said Walsh. "This investment will help rehabilitate communities, improve quality of life for those with disabilities, and improve public sewer systems."

Congressman Walsh, former chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee with fiscal oversight over HUD, was instrumental in transferring the Small Cities award program to New York State control several years ago. Previously, New York had been one of only two states in the nation that did not control the dispersing of such funds. The Governor's Office of Small Cities evaluates applications annually and disperses New York State's funding allotment.
Awards announced today include:

· County of Cayuga - $400,000. Cayuga County has numerous low-income households which house handicapped persons. Current programs do not provide enough resources to meet the needs for accessibility and safety modifications in order to allow disabled householders to remain in or return to independent living. The County will utilize the $400,000 Small Cities grant to support a program to help increase mobility, independence and quality of life to the County's low to moderate income (LMI) disabled population.

· Village of Newark - $400,000. The Village of Newark Wastewater Treatment Plant is undersized and outdated, and has been determined not to be cost effective by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Village will use the $400,000 Small Cities grant to finance improvements to make the wastewater treatment system more effective.

· Village of Red Creek - $398,750. The Village of Red Creek has adopted a phased approach to installing sewers to address a problem with failing septic tanks. The $398,750 in Small Cities funds will be used to connect 3,320 linear feet of 8-inch gravity sewers to existing sewer mains, assisting 45 housing units. It is part of a planned approach by Wayne County Water & Sewer Authority to create a central wastewater treatment facility to serve several villages and facilities in the region.

· Village of Sodus - $288,000. The Village of Sodus will use the Small Cities $288,000 grant to assist rehabilitation efforts for 20 residential units in the Village's targeted Main Street area. The Village will provide up to $17,000 per unit to 4 owner-occupied units and up to $10,000 per unit to 16 renter-occupied units. In addition, the Village proposes to use $10,000 on streetscape activities.

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