Madison County awards environmental grants to townships, Glen Carbon, St. Jacob
By Randy Pierce • Collinsville Township, Jarvis Township and the villages of St. Jacob and Glen Carbon are among 11 recipients of 2026 grants awarded to local government units for environmental programs as a result of legislation approved last month by the Madison County Board.
The resolution, supported unanimously by the county board and providing $15,000 each to the townships mentioned herein and St. Jacob plus $5,280 to Glen Carbon, states the money is to assist those entities in meeting state requirements concerning recycling and energy efficiency “retrofits.”
The county had budgeted $150,000 for this program with all but between $6,000 and $7,000 utilized for such projects as stormwater management, water and air quality, more efficient use of energy plus recycling efforts.
This grant program, set up in 2001, receives a share of the fees that are paid by waste hauling companies to two landfills in Madison County, one in Roxana and the other west of Collinsville as funding sources.
At first, the use of this money was permitted only for expenses concerning recycling and the diversion of waste but in recent years, this has been expanded to cover the wider range of environmentally-related costs incurred by those receiving the funds.
Overall, the 11 government units receiving the funding will provide a matching share of $600,000-plus with each required to pledge 20% of what they are getting and the individual grants limited to no more than $15,000.
If the various projects supported would be completed at a lesser cost than expected, the remaining grant money goes back into a pool from which a second round of funds may be awarded.
Eligible projects can include planning and policy development, alternative energy and restoration work along with the others previously mentioned.
There were a total of 22 applications received for the 2026 environmental grants awarded by the county.
Collinsville Township will use its grant toward the purchase of a streetsweeper for which it has received $15,000 during each of the last seven years. In Glen Carbon, the grant money will be expended as part of its Miner Park creek bank stabilization work.
Jarvis Township, which takes in Troy, is putting its share toward a pedestrian ramp that will provide Americans with Disabilities Act access as necessary. In St. Jacob, the grant will help pay for a salt bin containment project.
Pending grant applications which were not funded during this cycle include the upgrades of heating, air conditioning and ventilation at the activity center in Troy which is operated by the Tri-Township Park District and a detention pond at Kimberlin Street in Troy.
The City of Highland is also seeking funding support for a conservation shoreline project at Silver Lake Park.
