Massachusetts treasurer Deborah Goldberg announced in a press release that more than $107.3 million in grants were awarded across the commonwealth to “cities, towns, counties, and water utilities to help pay for improvements to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.” One of these places was Martha’s Vineyard Airport through Dukes County, which received an $822,867 loan forgiveness grant for the $10.97 million loan for the wastewater treatment facility project.
In September, the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission pursued the utilization of up to $10.97 million in a state revolving fund (SRF) loan for the wastewater treatment facility’s renovations. The loan amount can be reduced through grants. Commission chair Bob Rosenbaum told The Times in September whatever amount remains from the SRF loan after the grants are taken into account upon the construction’s completion, the airport can choose to take on the remaining loan balance with an interest rate of 2 percent, pay it off with money from the reserve fund, or a combination of the two.
According to the grant document, “facility improvements include repairs to the process building and exterior structures, a new flow-metering vault for composite sampling, reporting, and process control. Additional process equipment and electrical upgrades will be included with construction, and will ensure protection of a sole-source aquifer and associated environmental resources.” The airport will also implement recommendations from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection “in association with the renewal of the permit.”
“We were very happy to see that we were eligible for loan forgiveness on our state revolving fund grant,” airport director Geoff Freeman said. “Any help in the grant department is very helpful to us to offset the costs of the project.”
Freeman said the airport is also “actively pursuing other grants,” including a tentative $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, $4.3 million from the Massachusetts Transportation Bond Bill, and $1 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding.
