With infrastructure funds flowing from Washington, D.C., It’s in Iola’s best interest to apply for every penny it can, Mayor Steve French said. “That money’s gonna go someplace,” French said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “We might as well bring some of it back home if we can.” City Administrator Matt Rehder gave Council members a preliminary list of potential projects that could utilize Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation funds. The two biggest-ticket items would be to replace all of the bare steel gas mains in the city, expected to cost about $10 million, and relining Iola’s 75 miles of sewer lines, which carries a price tag estimated at $8 million. The BIL is a five-year, $1.2 trillion federal investment in the country’s infrastructure. Rehder and Iola’s other department heads have begun poring through the mountains of information regarding eligible projects — a task unto itself — to find how Iola could benefit, Rehder said.
Source: The Iola Register
