Latest news with #DANC
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Watertown will again apply for federal grant for costly water treatment plant project
Jun. 11—WATERTOWN — City officials will again apply for a federal Department of Defense grant to help pay for a costly water treatment plant project that would reduce two disinfection byproducts that have prompted drinking water violations in recent years. The city was unsuccessful when it applied for the DOD grant for the $58.3 million project the past two years. The city tried to obtain $17 million in federal funds to help finance the project last year and $20 million in 2023. Based on past "experience" and "lessons learned," the city plans to apply for $14.8 million from the DOD's community infrastructure program, City Manager Eric F. Wagenaar said Monday night. City officials recently learned that the application process began. The application is due on July 3. "That gives us just three or four weeks to pull it together," Wagenaar said. "Hopefully, we'll be successful." The city qualifies for the DOD funding because Fort Drum uses city water. Mayor Sarah V.C. Pierce asked what "categories" the DOD is focusing on for the grant this year. Wagenaar said "defense critical infrastructure" and "military value," so the city's application will focus on showing that the project is critical to Fort Drum. GHD Engineering, the Syracuse firm designing the project, and Michelle Capone, the regional development director for the Development Authority of the North Country, are working on the application with the city. DANC is also a customer for city water. In 2020, the city was placed under a consent order by the Environmental Protection Agency to submit a Corrective Action Plan to comply with maximum levels of two disinfection byproducts: total trihalomethanes, or TTHM, and haloacetic acids, or HAA5, that are created during the disinfection process when they react with organic material from the city's water supply. The city water is drawn from the Black River. Under the water contract with the city, DANC will pay for 25% of the project. The city also has obtained a $5 million state grant through the Department of Health. The state also promised to arrange for an interest-free loan up to $14 million. The city has already received $1 million in federal funding for the project. When the city is in violation, water customers receive postcards in the mail notifying them about the disinfection byproducts exceeding acceptable levels. Residents haven't received any of those postcards since March 2023 when the contaminant, TTHM, was found to be higher than the federal standard. Since then, the two contaminants have been under the maximums.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DANC opening downtown office to help soldiers transition out of Fort Drum
Mar. 26—WATERTOWN — Transitioning soldiers, their spouses and veterans soon will have some place to go downtown to get help for staying, living and working in the community after they leave Fort Drum. The Development Authority of the North Country has secured a $3.9 million state grant to open the "Next Move NY" office at 124 Franklin St. in Jefferson Community College's $3-million education and entrepreneurial center, called The NEST. The program also aims to help local businesses recruit and hire transitioning soldiers, their spouses and veterans so they can stay and work in the north country, said Michelle Capone, DANC's director of regional development. "This is big," she said. The collaboration with the college's entrepreneurial, education and workforce development's efforts seems to make the Next Move NY office "well-placed for that location," Capone said. It's the first time that the transitioning soldier efforts will be located in the community. That work is done on-post at Fort Drum through its Transition Assistance Program. The Next Move NY program will be staffed by program administrator Ben Cruz, program manager Eric Lo and a business liaison still to be hired. Cruz and Lo are former Fort Drum soldiers who will also work at Fort Drum's TAP program, besides being housed at the JCC Franklin Street site. The downtown office is expected to open in mid-April. Some technical equipment, a logo and website still need to be developed, Capone said. JCC's Small Business Development Center also has offices in the Franklin Street building and space for local startup businesses. The DANC program will incorporate a job matching portal and help businesses with soldier recruitment and training for employers. "We're looking at rolling more in the next few months," Capone said. Kylee McGrath, CEO of the Watertown Local Development Corp., heard about the program for the first time on Wednesday morning at a breakfast of the Fort Drum Chapter of AUSA. She previously worked at Fort Drum's TAP program, so she realizes that a lot of soldiers want to stay in the area after leaving the military. "I think it's great to keep them here," she said. "It'll be good for the local economy." The state funding is coming through Empire State Development. The Franklin Street office is part of a $10 million Next Move NY initiative to enhance workforce opportunities for transitioning soldiers and their families, Capone said.
