The city of Butler is hoping to secure a low-interest loan to help complete a project that’s been talked about for awhile: the Sullivan Run Flood Control Project, to ease flooding concerns in the future.
Butler City Council has approved a motion to direct their municipal engineer to apply for a large low interest loan from the Butler County Infrastructure Bank Program. A total of $875,000 would be requested in order to pay for the Sullivan Run Flood Control Project and for new lighting on Main Street.
There is no guarantee that this application will be accepted but if it is, two long-discussed projects could finally be able to move ahead, possibly even resulting in lower flood plain insurance rates.
“The Sullivan Run Flood Control Project has been in the works for a lot of years and it looks like we have an opportunity to move forward this year or at least get a pretty good push behind it,” Butler Mayor Ben Smith said during Thursday’s city council meeting.
Sullivan Run overflowed and flooded several homes, businesses and streets last July. The flood control project would be a massive undertaking involving work on culverts, bridges and creek banks.
Applications for the low-interest loan are due to the county in March and a decision is expected by sometime in early fall.
