City of Niagara awarded $1 million by Community Development Block Grant

NIAGARA – Governor Tony Evers announced on Thursday, Aug. 20, that over $19.7 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Public Facilities funding would be awarded to 20 communities across the state.

This grant funding is made available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and distributed by the Wisconsin Department of Administration within low-income and moderate-income communities with less than 50,000 residents. Successful applicants use the funding towards community improvement projects, ranging from upgrades to water and sewer systems to improvements and repairs to local roads.

“Investments like this connect the dots in our communities to fix our main streets, ensure clean safe drinking water, bolster housing and infrastructure, create jobs and provide countless other critical improvements that improve the daily lives of everyone who calls our state home,” Gov. Evers shared in a press release.

Locally, the City of Niagara worked with the Cedar Corporation to apply for CDBG funding and received $1 million for streets and utilities infrastructure improvements.

Niagara administrator, clerk and treasurer Audrey Fredrick said that the Department of Transportation (DOT) previously awarded the city about $3.6 million to resurface Hill Street and Forest Street in order to fix the potholes, sidewalks and water runoff. However, the infrastructure below the roads also needed updates due to its age.

“You can’t put new asphalt and new sidewalks on top of 100-year-old infrastructure,” Fredrick explained.
Having received the CDBG award, the city will soon begin water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer reconstruction and replacements on Hill, Forest, Fifth and Mill streets.

According to Fredrick, a bulk of the construction will occur on the connected Forest and Hill streets. Mill Street is eligible for infrastructure updates under the CDBG, but is not eligible for resurfacing under the DOT grant since it is not on their watch list.

“We’re very excited about this. We’re also looking for additional funding to cover the city’s portion of [the construction],” Fredrick added.

Currently, the city is working on pre-construction and hopes to have major work completed by fall of 2027. Officials will continue planning for other necessary construction in the older parts of the city.

Fredrick expressed her appreciation for this funding and highlighted the importance of the community grant programs, “CDBG funding is potentially on the federal chopping block, so that has a lot of communities concerned.”

“It is imperative that Congress ensure funding for this program and others like it remain in the next federal budget [...] We will continue fighting to ensure local governments receive the support they’ve been promised and to invest in the future Wisconsin deserves,” Gov. Evers said.

Visit https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg/ for more information about CDBG funding and other project recipients across the state.