Funding will protect homes and public infrastructure from flooding, improve water quality.
La Crosse County has approved funding for grants totaling $1.3 million to improve stormwater infrastructure in the towns of Campbell, Holland, Shelby, and Onalaska.
Funding comes from the county’s Stormwater Infrastructure Grant Program, designed to help towns pay for projects that protect homes and other property from flooding. Grants of up to $50,000 for conceptual applications or up to $500,000 for designed projects were available. The county’s Planning, Resources and Development Committee on Monday approved the funding for nine projects through the program. They are:
Conceptual Applications ($147,300)
- Town of Campbell – Lakeshore, Plainview, Jerald
- Town of Campbell – Pierce, Youngdale
- Town of Campbell – Spillway, Lakeview
- Town of Holland – Gaynors Rolling Hills
- Town of Shelby – Boma Road
- Town of Shelby – Ebner Coulee
Designed Applications ($1,150,520)
- Town of Shelby – Wedgewood Valley
- Town of Onalaska – Apple Valley
- Town of Onalaska – Thunderbird Hills
Conceptual projects are projects that still need to be designed. The three designed applications are shovel ready. The Town of Shelby project will receive the maximum $500,000 in funding, plus a further $210,000 in applicant funding. The project will involve ditching, upgrading storm sewers and installation of sediment control structures along Valley Road to protect about 150 homes from flooding. Recent flash floods in the area caused about $280,000 in damage to public infrastructure.
The Town of Onalaska designed projects will receive a total of $650,000 in grant funding supported by $72,000 in applicant funding. The projects will include ditching, increasing driveway culvert sizes and construction of infiltration basins to protect against damaging floods.
Applications for the grant funding were scored by county staff. The grant program, funded by the county’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation, was open to unincorporated parts of the county, which includes towns and rural areas. Projects on public land or easements that improve water quality and increase the resiliency of stormwater infrastructure were eligible.
The total funding available for the program was $2 million. The idea behind the grant program, which was approved by the county board, is to help protect towns and rural areas from increasingly frequent flood events. A second stormwater application cycle ends April 17, 2023. Applicants that won conceptual funding in the first round are encouraged to apply for designed funding in subsequent funding cycles.