CARIBOU — Officials with the Northern Maine Development Commission announced on Oct. 19 that the organization has received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD) Technical Assistance and Training Grants Program. The objectives of the program are to identify and evaluate solutions to water and waste disposal problems in rural areas, assist applicants in preparing applications for water and waste grants made at the state level offices and to improve operation and maintenance of existing water and waste disposal facilities in rural areas.
“NMDC is grateful to receive this funding,” said Jay Kamm, senior planner at NMDC. “The organization’s planning department staff will continue a pilot GIS project that began in 2008 geared toward training water and wastewater staff in the usage and long-term maintenance of GIS.” The main goals of this project, he said, are to improve efficiencies of water and wastewater departments through the use of GIS, the development of a cooperative purchasing program and to provide regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to enforcing wellhead protection areas.
• The following services have been approved for this new grant, which are available to any community within NMDC’s service area from Oct. 1, 2010 until Sept. 30, 2011;
• To develop a pilot GIS project geared to training water and wastewater district or department staff in the usage and long term maintenance of GIS technology;
• Provide ongoing hands-on training on an as-needed basis;
• Develop a cooperative purchasing program for water and wastewater departments; and
• Develop a wellhead protection technical assistance program for water departments.
A full copy of the grant can be found on NMDC’s website at www.nmdc.org or contacting Kamm at 498-8736, or e-mail jkamm@nmdc.org to obtain a copy.
