The city of Monticello is getting funding for a 12-mile extension of a wastewater collection line to help residents who use septic tanks to connect to the city's sewer system.
"These improvements will allow businesses to expand and will facilitate access to customers," said Gov. Ron DeSantis at a press conference in Jefferson County on Tuesday. "This is great for manufacturing logistics. There’s a lot of opportunity here."
The project will extend sewer service to the I-10 and the State Road 59 exchange.
The town of about 2,500 residents will get more than $4.2 million for the project. The project is estimated to create as many as 1,100 jobs, DeSantis said.
The funding was awarded through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund. The fund received $75 million for the current fiscal year, with state lawmakers allocating $50 million for next year. DeSantis had requested $100 million.
Local governments may submit grant proposals to the state Department of Economic Opportunity, which reviews them. Enterprise Florida and the governor's office also help select communities for grant awards.
DeSantis says the funding for Monticello reflects his administration's commitment to funding infrastructure projects in rural communities.
"I can bring money down to Miami or some of these places, and we do," DeSantis said. "You go into some of these rural communities with some of the infrastructure that you can do, it's a huge thing. And it really has really great bang for the buck."
