Local taxpayers will not be on the hook for a project to fix longtime drainage issues in Mace.
Montgomery County will use federal coronavirus relief money to match a $3 million state grant to reconstruct the Claude Moody drain, which was identified as the culprit of the problem.
Homeowners have spent years pumping water out of flooded crawl spaces and dealing with mold, mosquitoes and flooded yards. But since Mace is an unincorporated community, the question of who was responsible for addressing the problem and paying for the fix became a sticking point.
The county was awarded money from Indiana’s state water infrastructure fund to rebuild the drain. Once construction begins, the project is expected to be completed in 18 months. Engineering work is currently underway.
