ESCANABA — Daycares could be among the first places in Escanaba to benefit from a state grant for the replacement of lead water service lines following action taken by the Escanaba City Council Monday.

Council members approved a request submitted by Water and Wastewater Superintendent Jeff Lampi to retain Oberstar, Inc. of Marquette for line replacement work covered by the $295,000 grant and for the city to allow the water department to use up to $5,000 to cover any overages that could occur during the final billing of the project. However, there are still concerns the grant money may not go very far towards addressing lead lines in the city.

“At the current rates and if everything goes as planned — which I doubt it will — that’s only going to do about 41-42 houses or services,” said Lampi, noting the amount of money needed to remove and replace lead service lines could vary significantly between residences.

“It’s really sad to think that, you know, $300,000 is only going to do 40 houses,” he added.

One concern is how much of the grant would be used mitigating and restoring service lines inside homes. Depending on the condition of any individual basement, these in-residence repairs could cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

To make the most of the grant money available, the city has a prioritized list of properties to address. First, the city will address 10 to 12 buildings that need new services along 3rd Avenue North from Stephenson to Lincoln Road. These buildings are along a planned repaving project, and addressing them first will allow for the city to avoid addressing the lines after the road has been resurfaced.

The next priority is addressing the service lines that supply daycares in the city. While these lines may not be in the most need of repair, Lampi feels it is important to ensure that children are getting water from lead-free lines.

“I feel that’s our young in the city. Whether or not they have a problem, it’s a good opportunity to get into a daycare, replace that service line into the house, and then you know good, bad, or indifferent.”

Next, the city will address lines that have been identified as leaking. About 15 leaks have been identified, but at this point the city does not have any information available as to how much water is being lost in these locations.

Once the leaks have been addressed, the city plans to begin addressing the lines to residences that are on a list of frequent freeze-ups during the winter. Homes on that list will be prioritized based on how frequent freeze-ups are and how long they have been occurring.

Lampi told the council that, while he believes the city will ultimately become responsible for the replacement of service lines, the grant money is also providing the state with information about how to best address lead lines in the future.

“The good part about this grant is it’s a pilot program. The state’s going to look at how we spend this money, along with the other 18 communities, and we’re going to learn from the good and the bad, and we’re going to try and make a program and a policy to move forward in the future,” he said.