County officials will seek $5 million in additional state money to finish funding a sewage project in Marion Township.

County commissioners Wednesday approved a request by Mark Gordon, county economic development chieftain, to apply for a grant to finance the reconstruction of sewage facilities in the village of Boyers.

The grant, Gordon said, would alleviate the economic burden of the sewage project on Boyers residents, who earn a low average income. A large percentage of Boyers households earn $17,000 a year — $10,000 under the federal poverty level for a family of four.

Gordon noted the reconstruction is necessary due to a state consent decree on Marion Township.

“You look at the backyards up there, and there’s sewage waste in their backyards and their kids are playing in it,” Gordon said in an April interview. “I wouldn’t want that for my kids. You wouldn’t want that for your kids.”

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