City anticipates $100,000 brownfield grant approval
The city of Brookfield is close to solidifying a $100,000 grant that would help pay for site assessment and possible cleanup at the former Quebecor property on Bluemound Road near the city's eastern border.
Brookfield last year applied for the brownfield assessment grant through the state Department of Natural Resources so it can see how much contamination there might be at the 25-acre site and what would be needed to clean it up.
The Common Council on Tuesday agreed to amend the city's budget to account for the funds, but Director of Community Development Dan Ertl said the city still needs to take several steps before it will receive the grant, including reaching an agreement with property owner World Color to allow access to the site, as well as getting World Color to agree to pay $16,000 in matching funds.
The Common Council last night also gave the go-ahead for the city to apply for another DNR grant. The DNR's Plant Recovery Initiative is designed to help communities that have lost manufacturing plants or a significant number of jobs when larger employers have left the community, Ertl said.
Brookfield is seeking $200,000 through the second grant, but, Ertl said, he does not know when the city will hear if it has qualified.
The city in November also applied for a $1 million Environmental Protection Agency revolving loan fund grant, which could be used for environmental cleanup on brownfield sites throughout the city, potentially including the Quebecor site.
The program requires a 20 percent local match, which would include city staff time, fund contributions from Community Development Authority or Economic Development Fund or direct contributions from property owners and developers.
Ertl said the city hasn't heard anything about that application so far.
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