DOVER -- Residents of the Germantown and Minerva areas will benefit from a $1.5 million water line replacement project, which has been funded with stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in 2009.

Local politicians, Western Mason Water District Board of Directors Larry Redden, Pam Carpenter and Jerry Fields, as well as State Director for Rural Development Tom Fern were on hand Tuesday for the ceremonial ground-breaking event, which was combined with an open house of the Western Mason Water District's new operation facility on Kentucky 8.

"Recovery Act projects such as this one in Mason County help rural communities build a foundation for economic strength, future prosperity and a healthy environment," Fern said. "These types of projects also help achieve the Obama administration's economic recovery goals to rebuild and revitalize the nation's infrastructure."

Funding for the project came in part through USDA Rural Development and the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority.

KIA Financial Analyst Kasi White spoke on behalf of KIA Executive Director John Covington, saying KIA received more than 330 drinking water project submissions for funding consideration, with the requests totaling $427.5 million.

White said the WMWD project was 1 of 17 projects approved by the KIA Board of Directors and the projects had to be under contract by February 2010, or the money would have been lost.

WMWD received a $500,000 loan from the authority, but is only required to repay 46 percent of the amount, since approximately 54 percent of the amount is in the form of a forgivable loan. The loan has repayment terms of 2 percent interest over 20 years.

The funds awarded from Rural Development include a $700,000 loan, which will be repaid over 40 years at a 3 5/8 percent interest rate and a $300,000 grant, which requires no repayment under the ARRA.

WMWD Manager David French said work on the water line replacement project began March 1 and will take until approximately November to complete. The project replaces a 6-inch water line with an 8-inch water line from the Germantown Fairgrounds to Germantown, and from the fairgrounds to Minerva. The existing line has been in service since 1958, French said.

The larger line will provide increased water pressure and improved water service to WMWD customers.

Fern said since October 2009, which began the current fiscal year for the federal government, Kentucky Rural Development has received $54.5 million in stimulus money to loan to communities for 23 water or environmental projects, as well as $18.7 million in grant money for 22 projects; totaling $73.2 million benefiting 153,000 rural customers.

Additionally, Kentucky Rural Development has distributed $45 million to four community facility loans and $1.3 million to 18 grant projects across the state.

Fern explained the community facility loan funding has been used to construct facilities such as hospitals, clinics, fire stations, libraries and other health related facilities.

For more information about USDA's Recovery Act efforts, go to www.usda.gov/recovery.

Contact Marla Toncray at marla.toncray@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 275.

For more area news, visit www.maysville-online.com.