A wastewater treatment plant in Buena Vista Township may soon get a long-awaited upgrade, with help from new federal funding.
Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet visited the plant Monday to highlight the need for investment and to announce that the project is included in the U.S. House’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026.
“Joe and his team are doing amazing work to make sure that we don't get contaminants in the watershed, that things that are kicked downstream are safe and healthy for the community,” McDonald Rivet said. “But the question is for how long?”
The facility, which serves nearly 9,000 residents, hasn’t had a full upgrade in more than 35 years. It still runs on outdated equipment, including a control system powered by a floppy disk.
Buena Vista Township Wastewater Superintendent Joe Perroud said staff have been repurposing maintenance funds to cover essential upgrades, a juggling act that he said has become harder over time.
“If something does fail, what we have to replace is already obsolete, it’s been obsolete for 20 years,” Perroud said. “We would be risking putting untreated water out in the system out in the river.”
McDonald Rivet said the funding request is part of her broader effort to expand access to clean drinking water and modern infrastructure across mid-Michigan. Other communities included in her Community Project Funding initiative include Midland, Bangor Township, Fenton and Mundy Township.
Buena Vista Charter Township Superintendent Torrie Lee said the wastewater facility may not be well known, but it plays a critical role.
“Our wastewater treatment facility plant is an asset that no one really knows about," Lee said. "It's kind of like our unknown hidden jewel back here. But... we've needed some investment. And it's a huge investment that we need right now.”
McDonald Rivet, who sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said the total funding request for the Buena Vista project is under $1 million.
“This isn’t a big ask,” she said. “These are the very core services that people rely on government to deliver.”
The project’s future now depends on Congress including it in the final budget for next fiscal year.
