We know that providing your residents with quality community resources, safe roads, and clean water is essential to creating a thriving place to live and work. We also know that locating the funds necessary to make improvements to local infrastructure can be incredibly difficult, especially after the state of Wisconsin’s recent record-breaking precipitation left behind significant storm damage.
Fortunately, there are a variety of grants available to help ease your municipality’s financial burden. As budget season begins, we encourage you to consider applying the following opportunities:
UNPS & Storm Water Construction Grant
Eligible to urban municipalities, or soon-to-be urban areas, this grant focuses on the construction of structural best management practices (BMPs) including: detention basins, infiltration basins, biofilters, permeable pavement systems, and infiltration trenches. Projects eligible for this grant may also include related items such as storm sewer rerouting, removal of structures, streambank and shoreline stabilization, and engineering design and construction services.
Applications for the UNPS & Storm Water Construction Grant are due April 15, 2020.
Municipal Flood Control Grant
This grant is designed to help minimize flood-related damage, either through acquiring property, floodproofing structures, creating flood storage areas, or finding other solutions to minimize potential flooding impacts.
Applications for the Municipal Flood Control Grant are due March 16, 2020.
Recreational Trails Grant
These grants focus on trail restoration, maintenance, acquisition of easements, new trail creation, and repairs to trail facilities. If your current trails are experiencing flooding issues, this is a great funding opportunity.
Applications for the Recreational Trails Grant are due May 1, 2020.
Fund for Lake Michigan
The Fund for Lake Michigan is an excellent resource for projects that aim to enhance the health of Lake Michigan and its tributaries. Projects that focus on habitat restoration, pollutant reduction, stream restoration, and improvements to coastal areas in Wisconsin are all eligible under this grant.
The Fund for Lake Michigan now accepts pre-proposals quarterly; the next round will be due Friday, November 1, 2019.
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
As of July 24th, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that $217.5 million will be dedicated to funding conservation easements on lands damaged by flooding. Communities are encouraged to seek out these floodplain easement opportunities should they need them.
HOW WE CAN HELP
At R/M, we understand that the grant application process can be incredibly complex and time consuming, especially when you’re faced with increasingly limited resources. We also understand that grants are imperative to funding essential municipal projects.
Our goal is to ease the burden of the application process for your community. We will work with you in the early stages of your project planning to make the grant application process as smooth and cost-effective as possible. Collecting relevant information and working together with project teams to develop successful applications has enabled us to secure millions of dollars in grant funding for local communities.
To learn about additional grant opportunities available to your community, please contact an expert at R/M today!
