The town of Miami has received a $206,750 grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to be used to replace the most problematic areas of the town’s aging water system.

Missouri Gov. Bob Holden announced that the city had been awarded the grant through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to make the improvements to its water distribution system.

“We’re in such shock we really can’t celebrate yet,” noted Miami City Councilman Robert Nelson. “There’s about 3,000 feet of line we will replace, it’s getting up in age, about 35 to 37 years old, and this covers the basic cost of it.”

The line is the main line leading from the city’s water tower on the western side of the town. The Miami water distribution system and pipes are all old, with excessive water loss from cracks and leaks. The main section of water line will be replaced with new PVC pipe, eliminating many of the leaks.

Cyndi Goehl, a public development consultant, prepared Miami’s grant application and the town plans to apply for more grants to replace the rest of its aging water lines.

“We needed to upgrade our water lines and we applied for a grant a few years ago and finally got it,” said Nelson. “We had some people come in here and look at it and they said it needed to be replaced.”

The funds will be released to Miami as certain requirements set forth by the CDBG program are met.

The program provides economic development grants and loan funds to cities with a population under 50,000 and counties under 200,000. The water and wastewater grants help fund construction related to water treatment and distribution or sewer treatment and collection for publicly-owned systems.