MARSHALL — Marshall Municipal Utilities is seeking grant funding for a project that could help keep some of the salt out of local wastewater. At their regular meeting Tuesday, members of the MMU Commission authorized an application for a Point Source Implementation Grant from the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority. The grants are intended to help local governments build the infrastructure needed to meet water quality standards.

Water quality is a challenge that’s loomed over the Marshall wastewater treatment facility for the past couple of years. In 2014, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency put a new, lower limit on the amount of chlorides that would be allowed in water released from the Marshall wastewater plant. A lot of the chlorides in Marshall wastewater come from the salt used in water softeners.

The least costly way for Marshall to cut back on chlorides would be to pre-soften city water, said MMU General Manager Brad Roos. But doing so will mean expanding MMU’s water softening systems — a project that has an estimated capital cost of more than $9 million.

Roos said the grant application will be for 80 percent of the project cost, or about $7 million.

Roos told commissioners that if the grant is approved, they would need to be ready to act quickly on the project. It would need to go out for bids by March.

If MMU submits the grant proposal, “Are we obligated to any further expense?” asked commissioner Bill Reilly.

If MMU receives the $7 million grant, Roos said, MMU and the city of Marshall will have to work out how to pay the remaining costs of the project.

Commissioners voted to apply for the grant.

• Last year was a busy one for MMU electric and water crews, staff said Tuesday. MMU Electric Operations Manager Steve Johnson and Water Operations Manager Jeff Larson gave a “year in review” presentation on utility projects.

Johnson said MMU completed a number of cable replacement projects in 2016. The projects replaced electric cables dating back to the 1980s with new, rubber-insulated cable. The old cables had a 40-year lifespan, Johnson said, and they showed corrosion from their age.

Electric cables were replaced in locations including Michigan Road, Nuese Lane, the Broadmoor Valley manufactured home park, Bruce Street, West Main Street and Parkside Drive.

MMU electric crews also converted some segments of overhead line to buried cable, at locations including the intersection of Lyon County Road 33 and U.S. Highway 59.

“We don’t have a lot of overhead left,” Johnson said. MMU has gradually been moving Marshall’s power lines underground, where they’re less vulnerable to wind and storm damage.

Storm damage did occupy some MMU linemen last summer, however. Three linemen helped with storm cleanup in Granite Falls in July 2016.

In the water department, MMU replaced the Bruce Street water main last year, Larson said. At the same time, the Marshall water tower on Bruce Street was repainted. The water tower near Justice Park was also repainted with matching colors and design.

Larson said water crews did respond to some notable water main breaks in 2016, including one near Ace Hardware and one underneath the North 7th Street diversion channel. Utility projects also replaced aging water mains in a couple of residential neighborhoods, like East Lyon, North A and Jean streets; and South 2nd, Williams and Maple streets.