Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the city of Hudson has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation as part of its Water Quality Improvement Project program. The Hudson Common Council January 18, voted unanimously to authorize Mayor Kamal Johnson to enter an agreement with the DEC for the funding to pay for the construction of a combined sewer separation system and sewer repairs. The council vote authorized the appropriation of an additional $350,000 from the Department of Public Works Sewer Fund as the required local match for the program. “I’m ecstatic,” said Rob Perry, city Department of Public Works superintendent. The project was originally proposed in 2014 when the city was awarded $600,000 as part of a Community Development Block Grant. After a three-year environmental review, a failure to secure additional funding delayed construction. The proposed new sewer system will separate the waste material from rainwater. It will send the clean, filtered rainwater into the Hudson River and ensure the sewage is consistently sent to a separate processing plant for treatment. The city will soon put out a request for proposals to find qualified companies to complete the job of repairing the sewer systems. A firm could be accepted by February and receive short-term financing by March, Perry said. Construction would then begin in the spring and conclude in the fall. Construction will involve the excavation of Front Street between Columbia and State streets. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.