A plan to upgrade the Martha’s Vineyard Airport’s wastewater facility got a financial boost this week, after the state treasurer’s office announced $822,867 in loan forgiveness for the project.
The airport took out a $10 million loan earlier this year to upgrade the aging wastewater treatment facility. The new grant money is the first in what is hoped to be a series of state and federal grants which will help fund the project, said airport manager Geoff Freeman.
“Seeing this right now is great news for us,” Mr. Freeman said.
The loan forgiveness comes from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust as part of a $107.3 million grant packaged for municipal water projects across the state.
“This investment furthers our commitment to ensuring the health and safety of all Massachusetts residents by providing access to clean drinking water in even more communities,” wrote state treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg in a press release this week.
Mr. Freeman said that the new plant will both improve outdated technology and unlock more capacity after the next state permitting process.
“The airport really is a little city of its own on Island,” he said, explaining that the treatment facility serves the airport itself and its surrounding business park.
Mr. Freeman said that plans have been in the works to find more funding sources for the project, which includes ARPA money distributed to Dukes County, as well as various state and federal grants.
Construction for the project will begin this March and take place over the next 18 months, with no disruption to plant operations, he added.
