Suffolk County gives grants of up to $15,000 to tiny companies that want to connect to the county’s sewer systems.
The initiative is one particular of quite a few federally funded efforts to expand sewers and boost water good quality in Suffolk, exactly where 3-quarters of properties are served by outdated septic systems and septic tanks that do not lower nitrogen pollution.
The $1 million pilot plan will be funded by way of the county’s $125 million Water Good quality Protection and Restoration System. It was developed with funds from the federal American Rescue Program Act, or the COVID-19 stimulus package, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.
House owners should bear the person fees of connecting to the technique. District officials estimate the grants will fund half of the expense of the connection. The plan will direct applicants to Dime Neighborhood Bank for loans to cover the balance.
Grant applications can be submitted beginning this fall.
The plan is anticipated to enable 65 companies with 25 or fewer personnel, county officials stated at a news conference Wednesday. Corporations should meet other needs, like obtaining no outstanding house tax liens.
It is the initially such plan for small business owners interested in applying Suffolk’s wastewater therapy technique. County and state grants stay offered to property owners who want to set up person higher-tech septic systems.
Legis sponsored legislation authorizing the tiny small business plan. Jim Mazzarello (R-Moriches) and was authorized by the District Legislature on May well two.
Mose Costigliola, co-owner of the Mama Lisa restaurant on Montauk Highway that hosted the news conference, stated he would be amongst the initially to sign up. His job is with the River Forge Sewer District exactly where a $225 million sewer project is underway.
“We have a septic tank technique outdoors that fees us a lot of funds just about every month, and often it overflows,” Costiglia stated. “That [sewers] it will be less costly and it will be environmentally friendly.”
A extended-term remedy to expanding Suffolk’s sewer systems could expense billions, with income coming from a proposed 1/eight-cent sales tax boost.
A bill authorizing the county to place a tax boost on the November ballot passed the state legislature this year, but county lawmakers have not signaled whether or not it will be on the ballot.
Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics.