CAMBRIA — The residents of Cambria have decided that the possibility of contaminated drinking water and a need for more effective fire protection are reasons enough to ask for a federal grant. So they have made a preapplication to HUD for $54,000 to finance a new water system that will serve the Blue Earth County community of about 100 people.

WHETHER or not Cambria will get the grant remains to be seen. But the residents are hopeful, for not only will it mean a bountiful supply of fresh water for themselves, but it will help attract more people to their community. Presently each resident draws his entire water supply from individual wells. There is danger of contamination from the cesspools also located in each yard and state law already prohibits future building in an area less than three times the average sized lot in Cambria.

THE FUTURE of the town is precarious, Town Clerk Earl Walters says. A large portion of the citizenry is retired and on Social Security, resulting in a small tax base for the town. With state regulations restricting building, few people will be able to move into the community.

“We’re afraid what’s going to happen is that the state will start condemning some of the wells,” Walters says.”I don’t think the town could afford to put in a new system by itself.”

POSSIBLE contamination isn’t the only problem the residents face. The water level in the area has been dropping for the past couple of years and the older, more shallow wells are in danger of running dry. Some of the residents have had to give up watering their gardens in the summer. One lady has had her well go dry already and now brings in water from her neighbors.

Harold Luckow, who owns the only business in town, a combination bar-gas station-grocery store, got together a couple of years ago with a group of residents to try to get some financing for a new system. But other residents balked at the idea of having to repay a loan, then the only available source of financing.

THE PLANS for the new system were dropped until late last year when possible financing became available through a HUD grant program. Still some of the residents are against it, though it may be due more to a misunderstanding of how a grant works than anything else, according to Luckow.

“Most of the people don’t know what a grant is,” he says.”They know what a loan is. They think they’ll be assessed for it on their taxes.”

“Eventually, the way I see it, They will be for it because, they’ll see the advantage of it. The extra measure of fire protection was the biggest ad-vantage to him, Luckow says. One night last summer, his son-in-law’s home started on fire. It took the fire department from Lake Crystal 45 minutes to get to the fire, he says.

WITH THE NEW water system, officials say, enough water would be available in case the tanker trucks ran dry, eliminating the need for them to make another run. And perhaps in the future, they add, Cambria could get its own tanker and use the water system itself. But the fire protection, the new residents and fresh drinking water will be just a dream unless HUD approves the grant and no one will know how Cambria ranks until HUD makes the final decision. In preliminary ranking through Region 9, Cambria scored 30 out of a possible 40 points in eligibility for the grant, which Region 9 planner, Jim Degiovanni said “was not too bad.” The next 60 points, further rating how well the water system will affect the low to moderate in come citizens in the town will be decided by HUD. About 25 to 30 other communities in Region 9 have made a pre-application for HUD grants. The outcome of these requests should be known in late July or early August.

“It seems these little towns should get the money,” Walters says, reflecting on Cambria’s chances.”

The big cities do and it seems that the little towns are often more desperate.”

New Ulm Daily Journal

Jan. 14, 1976