The City of Westport is one of three Twin Harbors communities to receive a $750,000 Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant and will use it to replace one of its aging sewer pumps, said Westport Mayor Rob Bearden.

The Westport grant is among 27 selected from 41 applications requesting a total of $20 million for projects including street improvements, community facilities and fire protection systems, along with support for affordable housing and community planning.

“Partnering with local governments to create infrastructure is essential to our mission of strengthening communities,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown.

Bearden said Westport’s sewer system is in overall good shape, but the city’s 12 sewer pumps have reached the end of their 40-year life span and the city is working to secure funds to replace them as the money becomes available through grants and other sources.

“The sewer system is world-class and gets awards every year for being in the top 100 in the state for compliance, but our infrastructure is aging out,” said Bearden. “So we’re just being proactive on these pump stations. We’ve replaced two, and there are four more we have the money to replace.”

Bearden said the city works closely with its engineers to put together successful grant applications to fund this and other projects. The city will continue to seek out grants and in some cases low-interest loans and “keep replacing (the pumps) as often as possible.”

The cost of replacing each pump is right around $750,00o.

Two other grants were awarded to cities in Pacific County.

• The City of Raymond was awarded a $750,000 grant for a new Willapa Center community facility with the Joint Pacific County Housing Authority, according to the Commerce. The grant amount is for just less than half of the project’s total cost of $1,621,352.

The City of South Bend received a $750,000 grant for water treatment plant improvements, according to Commerce. The total project cost there is listed as $3,193,693.

Community Development Block Grant funds help leverage an additional $13 million from other state, federal and local resources toward total project costs, according to Commerce. The program receives an annual funding allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and targets assistance to benefit lower-income communities in rural areas. Since 1982, the program has awarded over $525 million in grants to more than 1,500 locally prioritized projects.