LAKE HAVASU CITY

2330 McCulloch Blvd. North

Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403-5947

www.lhcaz.gov

Charlie Cassens

Communications & Intergovernmental Affairs

Office – (928) 854-4212 Cell – (928) 486-8879 Fax – (928) 680-4892

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 5, 2007

City Sewer Project Receives $1.4 Million Federal Appropriation

Lake Havasu City received word yesterday that federal grant money applied for almost a year and a half ago is finally in the bank. The $1,433,600 deposit is the first of what City officials hope are many federal funds that will ultimately help offset the high cost of the City’s wastewater expansion program. Mayor Mark Nexsen expressed his pleasure about the news, “This has been a long time coming and I commend staff for their perseverance in seeing it through,” said Nexsen. “There were a lot of hoops to jump through. A lot of work went into it, and I appreciate the efforts of both staff and the federal lobbyist in Washington D.C.”

U.S. Senator Jon Kyl was instrumental in getting the $1.5 million appropriation in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget in March 2006 to help subsidize construction of the North Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. The appropriation was subsequently reduced when Congress reduced the EPA budget, leaving the final appropriation at $1,433,600. “Repeated turnover in administrative staff at the EPA left us with what felt like a never-ending string of requests for information, studies and supplemental data,” said Assistant Public Works Director and City Engineer, Greg Froslie. “Some of that work was rejected and had to be redone. It’s been a frustrating experience, but we learned a lot and it’s good to know it finally paid off.” Froslie added that the City received notice in May of this year that the money had been awarded and would be released following a public comment period, which ended July 16. Following the public comment period, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued a letter to the EPA strongly supporting the City’s program.

The money is now available from the City’s Wastewater Expansion account and will be used to pay for construction, directly offsetting the cost of borrowing the funds. “This may not seem like a large contribution to a $450-million project,” said Mayor Nexsen. “But we do see it as a significant milestone by the federal government and we hope this appropriation is just the first of many more to come.”

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