The city of Poplar Bluff has been awarded more than $750,000 in grants to complete stormwater projects and provide a backup generator for the new Poplar Bluff Police Department.
The money comes from the Missouri Department of Economic Development, said city manager Matt Winters. The funds from community block development grants were set aside to help communities following the flood of 2017.
“Butler County and the city were not in their top priority of projects when this money first became available,” Winters said of the disaster mitigation funds. “They’ve tried to meet the highest priority needs from the flood 2017. This was money that was left after they met those high priority needs.”
The largest amount, just over $700,000, will allow the city to make stormwater system repairs and upgrades on three city streets, Maud, Valley and Cynthia. The remaining $50,000 will fund an emergency generator, which will be installed at the PBPD during construction on Shelby Road.
Winters expects it to be at least a year before work can start on the stormwater projects. While the city has received the initial notification, there is additional work to be done, including engineering and environmental reports, before the projects are put out for bid.
The city expects to replace a culvert under Maud Street, near the Mark Twain National Forest’sPoplar Bluff Ranger District office.
“The bottom of the culvert has rusted out in several places and it’s caving in,” said Winters. “The street department has done temporary work.”
The new culvert will be 1,200 feet long and about 4-feet in diameter. This project will also include new inlets to be constructed along the curves at the side of the street.
A project on Valley Street will install a buried, 4-foot culvert for stormwater runoff in an area that has an open ditch currently. It will take place near the 600 and 700 blocks of Valley.
On Cynthia Street, a new 24-inch culvert will replace an undersized 12-inch one. The city will also repair a stormwater catch basin there. The work will be done in the 700 block of Cynthia.