By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg will receive $5 million of the nearly $8 million coming to St. Lawrence County from the North Country Regional Economic Development Council.

The funding will put a major dent in the project’s $34.9 million debt.

“The award of $5 million from the DEC’s Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP), while only a portion of what was applied for, is a valuable contribution to the overall WWTP improvement project. This is a critical infrastructure project that provides an essential service for residents and business alike, and enables the city to support growth. This funding helps ensure affordable, reliable wastewater treatment and disposal that will prevent water quality impairment. I look forward to working with the DEC on this award and implementation of the necessary improvements to our facility,” City Planner Andrea Smith said. “The city will be working closely with our project engineers and facility managers to prioritize improvements and discuss options for a phased approach to implementation that will position the city for seeking additional grant funds.”

In addition to this WQIP award, the city has received a $5 million award from the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) program, and $20 million in 0 percent loans from EFC. The city has also received $200,000 from the state’s CDBG Imminent Threat flood relief program that will be used to make repairs and improvements to one of the city’s pumping stations damaged by the spring floods.

Other awards in St. Lawrence County include: The Business and Development Corporation For a Greater Massena will receive $300,000 to assist in the renovation of the historic Massena Downtown Theater; the Village of Massena will receive $225,000 to construct a covered salt storage barn on the current site of the Village of Massena Department of Public Works.

This project will relocate the salt pile from the current DPW site further away from the municipality’s closed water system, protecting the public water system and decreasing risk of salt contamination; Arconic Inc., will receive $90,000 to realign the roads leading to its complex to streamline traffic at the facility and reduce fuel costs for trucking; the Town of Lisbon will receive $30,000 to complete an engineering report to evaluate the needs of the wastewater treatment plant and plan for expected future disinfection requirements.