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The Cayuga County Water and Sewer Authority will receive $605,385 for a water infrastructure project at the county industrial park. The project will install more than 5,000 feet of water line to increase capacity by 1 million gallons per day. 

Cayuga Milk Ingredients, the industrial park's main tenant, needs the additional water capacity for its $170 million expansion project. The milk plant, which opened in 2014, has needed improved wastewater infrastructure because of limited capacity. 

The latest funding is in addition to another federal grant that was awarded in 2022. The Cayuga County Industrial Development Agency received $1.1 million to construct a new wastewater pumping station. 

The Northern Border Regional Commission awarded nearly $11 million for 12 projects in upstate New York, the largest annual investment since the program was established in 2008. 

According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office, the commission invested more than 28 million to support over 60 projects in a 12-year period, from 2010 to 2022. Last year, the commission provided $5.8 million for upstate New York projects. 

Schumer, D-N.Y., noted that the increased funding is from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan law that was signed in 2021. The legislation included $150 million for the Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership that supports economic development in upstate New York, Vermont and parts of Maine and New Hampshire. 

This year, the commission had up to $45 million in grants available for economic development projects, including $20 million from the infrastructure law. 

"I fought to deliver historic increases for the (Northern Border Regional Commission) because I knew that would deliver unprecedented funding for communities across New York, and now communities from Watertown to Plattsburgh are reaping the rewards," Schumer said. "This is a big win for upstate New York, and it is only the beginning." 

The largest grant awarded in this round of funding for upstate New York is $2.4 million to support broadband deployment in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. 

Cayuga County has benefited from Northern Border Regional Commission funding in the past. In 2021, Wells College in Aurora was awarded $1 million for water plant upgrades.