IRON MOUNTAIN — A state grant program that helps communities identify lead service lines in water systems will receive an application from the city of Iron Mountain seeking nearly $600,000.

The program administered by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is meant to help communities take advantage of federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dollars for lead line replacement, which are available through fiscal year 2027.

There are no local match requirements for the Technical, Managerial and Financial Support for Lead Service Line Replacement grants. Priority will be given to applicants that have not previously received such funding and have a low median annual household income, City Manager Jordan Stanchina said.

A total of $48 million is available statewide under legislation passed in 2022.

The income component may hurt Iron Mountain’s chances, but Stanchina on Monday encouraged the city council to “take a shot” at getting the funding. About 430 water service lines will be replaced at Iron Mountain homes over the next several years under a $4.6 million grant and loan program. The new grant could help identify which lines should be replaced, Stanchina said.

The council approved seeking $595,604, which would be enough to examine about 785 lines. The grant provides funding to hydro-excavate two holes that are 18 inches away from each side of curb stop, Stanchina explained. This allows the city to identify the service line material from the curb stop to the watermain, as well as the curb stop to the house.

The maximum grant award per proposal is $600,000 and the application deadline is Jan. 31.

Funding for Iron Mountain’s lead service line replacements will come through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund administered through EGLE. This aid includes a loan of $2.33 million at 2% interest for 20 to 40 years, plus an additional $2.24 million with principal forgiveness, essentially making that portion a grant.

Coleman Engineering Co. of Iron Mountain will design, bid and inspect the project. Due to incomplete records of service line material, many services thought to be galvanized are actually copper, according to Scott Nowack, Coleman project manager. For this reason, Coleman expects to identify about 800 services for potential replacement, requesting easements from each homeowner.

Construction may begin in the fall and continue through the 2025 and 2026 construction seasons, assuming only one crew is working at a time.

Under a statewide mandate from 2018, the city is required to replace all galvanized water services that are considered lead lines within the next 18 years. The $4.6 million project will address roughly a quarter of the lines needing replacement, according to city officials.

In other action Monday, the city council:

≤ Learned from Stanchina that a meeting will be held with Michigan Department of Transportation and Breitung Township representatives to explore options to improve traffic flow and safety on south U.S. 2. Both the city and township want “a better understanding of the options and if any of them would be possible to implement,” Stanchina said.

≤ Heard council member David Farragh suggest reintroducing a snowplow safety program for elementary school students. Plow trucks have blind spots and drivers may not be able to see children standing or playing too close to the road.

≤ Will again seek bids to replace and install seven insulated steel service doors at the public works building. A bid had been accepted in April, but an updated price was more than the council had approved.

≤ Appointed Lori Lamy to the Iron Mountain Tree Board.

≤ Approved an agreement with CGI Communications to update the “Video Tour” on the city’s website. There is no cost to the city as CGI sells advertising to generate revenue