By Brian Voerding

Goodview city officials have spent years searching for money to fund a $4 million federally mandated water treatment plant, and each quest turned up nothing.

Now in recent months, almost improbably, the deals keep getting sweeter.

The city is set to receive $3 million from an appropriations bill expected to pass the U.S. Senate sometime this week, according to spokespeople from the offices of Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.

The legislation is part of a larger waterways spending bill, which includes projects along the Mississippi River and other locations. Nothing's final, of course, and the legislation would also have to survive a joint conference committee after the House passes its version of the bill, which currently doesn't include money for Goodview.

Still, representatives with the senators' offices say they're cautiously optimistic that the funding request will survive because of broad support for the larger projects included in the bill.

Klobuchar sits on the Senate's Environment and Public Works committee, which created the waterways bill, and helped usher the legislation through the committee process.

"Whether it's from one of our 10,000 lakes or from our faucets, Minnesotans value clean water," Klobuchar said.

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2007/05/09/news/02goodview0509.txt