Governor Walz Tours WLSSD
Promoting Infrastructure Plan
DULUTH, Minn. –Governor Tim Walz was at WLSSD Tuesday morning to highlight a project that was already funded in part by the state and keeps our water clean. He is working to gather support from legislators to pass the $982 million-dollar infrastructure plan he recently introduced.
The governor was at WLSSD to show how they have used state infrastructure money in the past. Four clarifiers remove waste from the sewage. State money was used to pay half the 35 million dollars needed to replace one of four clarifiers. The other three also need replacing.
“It keeps Minnesota’s infrastructure at world-class and it keeps people knowing that they’re going to be able to have clean drinking water, they’re going to have sanitary services, and they’re going to have a system that is sound and works into the future. ”
One source of money for these projects is the Public Facilities Authority or PFA. It loans money for projects at low-interest rates.
“We could not get those things done without help from the state funding through PFA, ourselves as WLSSD,” said Marianne Bohren the Executive Director at WLSSD. “We’ve used PFA funding over the last 25-plus years to the tune of $200 million. With the low-interest rates that come with PFA and the loan forgiveness that comes at times with the grant programs,” :
Recently, Legislators and the governor toured the state to look at some of the projects that have requested funding. In Duluth, these include the airport, the DECC, and the Armory.
Duluth Representative Alicia Kozlowski, says an up-to-date WLSSD helps the entire region. “So many innovative ways that they’re cutting costs for Duluthians as well as folks in the Twin Ports, servicing and beyond just Duluth, we know that that makes a really huge difference in our neighborhoods.”
One innovative program highlighted on Tuesday was methane gas-powered generators. The gas is produced when waste decomposes into fuel. Lowering the plant’s electricity costs both now and in the future.
