Howard County Seeks $75M Loan For Ellicott City’s Safe And Sound Plan

2 years ago 262

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) — Howard County is seeking a $75 cardinal national indebtedness to wage for large infrastructure projects intended to caput disconnected flooding.

The region announced Monday it has filed an exertion to get that wealth from the Environmental Protection Agency to money an hold of the North Tunnel and different infrastructure projects identified arsenic priorities by the Ellicott City Safe & Sound plan.

“Our committedness to keeping Ellicott City Safe & Sound has not wavered, and this captious backing for the present Extended North Tunnel and our different projects paves the mode for america to beryllium a nationalist illustration for implementing flood mitigation efforts for a historical town,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said.

The backing would beryllium lent retired done the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, oregon WIFIA, program, which offers much favorable borrowing presumption than issuing a 20-year bond.

In caller years, Howard County has assembled much than $56 cardinal successful funds to transportation retired the Safe & Sound plan, including implicit $20 cardinal from the authorities and astir $30 cardinal much from the county.

The propulsion to shield Ellicott City from earthy catastrophe comes aft flooding devastated the municipality doubly successful 3 years, archetypal successful July 2016 and again successful May 2018. Both floods were deadly and near down important harm to the town’s historical Main Street corridor.

A program to widen the North Tunnel to astir 5,000 feet is billed arsenic the centerpiece of the county’s flood mitigation plans. It would not lone trim h2o connected the thoroughfare but besides mean the region would not request to demolish a bid of historical buildings.

Other projects viewed arsenic priorities for the Safe & Sound program see the instauration of ponds to support floodwaters distant from the town, the renovation and removal of respective buildings successful the country and the operation of the Maryland Avenue Culvert.

According to the county, it tin beryllium approved by the EPA for a indebtedness that would adjacent astir fractional of the wide outgo of the Safe & Sound plan. The remainder of the wealth would person to travel from a operation of the region and different backing sources.

“The national WFIA loan, successful summation to the $18.5 cardinal Senator Hester and I obtained from the authorities legislature, volition beryllium the capstone for the completion of Safe and Sound Plan to alteration Ellicott City to prosper different 250 years,” Delegate Courtney Watson said.

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If the indebtedness is approved, the region could get its hands connected that backing arsenic soon arsenic midway done 2022.