Essex receives $200,000 Iowa West grant for water system improvements

(Essex) — Plans are coming together on a major water system improvement in the city of Essex.

During the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this week, Iowa West Foundation President Brenda Mainwaring announced $3.9 million in grant awards for their first grant cycle for 2025, including $200,000 to the city of Essex for its water system improvements. The news also comes after the city received a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority in June last year. Essex Community Development Director Tess Nelson tells KMA News the two grants totaling $700,000 are a major boost to the rural community’s infrastructure improvement.

“When you’ve got a small community like Essex and it’s comprised mainly of a lot of retirees and people on a fixed income, anytime you can get a grant like this, we’re jumping up and down at city hall, because we certainly understand where our citizens are coming from,” said Nelson. “Anytime we can get a grant to help cut down on the costs of a necessary improvement, we’re thrilled.”

Nelson says the city also secured a loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finance the remaining roughly $1.9 million. Plans call for constructing a new water tower slightly further east of the existing tower and upgrading the city’s water mains. Nelson says it is past time to upgrade the city’s nearly century-old infrastructure.

“The water system that was originally implemented in Essex, similar to the water tower, was back in the 1920s, so it’s way past time for the city to rehabilitate those water lines,” she said. “Of course you have some corrosion and just time to where we’re getting, not so much water issues, but more breaks in the water lines and issues like that.”

While there will likely be some temporary disruptions in water service during the project’s construction, Nelson says in the long run, providing a safe and efficient water system will be worth it.

“For our citizens, that’s a basic need that we want to offer to them—clean and safe water as soon as you turn on the tap,” Nelson emphasized. “And then of course for fire protection that’s always a necessity as well that when our firetrucks need water to battle a blaze if there is one, that (water) is right there and there’s no issues.”

Now that the majority of the funding has been secured, Nelson says the hope is for the project to begin sometime in May.

“We’re now kind of just waiting to get some bids out and get the final licenses and permits from the Iowa DNR before we can get started on this project,” said Nelson.

Nelson says the construction is expected to take roughly two years to complete once the project begins. During the supervisor’s meeting Tuesday, Mainwaring noted that they had awarded the grant contingent on the city securing the remaining funding for the project.