ARLINGTON — City officials recently announced that departments have been awarded more than $16 million in grants and low-interest loans since March 2009.

Kristin Banfield, assistant city administrator, released a list of grants and loans to the City Council during an Oct. 26 work session.

The list is divided into four sections — grants and loans applied for and received award, grants applied for and awaiting response, grants applied for and not awarded and upcoming grant applications.

The city’s public works department has received the bulk of the grants and loans thus far in 2009, including at least $5.5 million worth of federal stimulus money to build a new wastewater treatment plant.

The remaining funds will come from a low-interest loan, according to the list.

Other public works grants include $122,000 in federal stimulus funds to construct a trail on 188th Street NE that connect the Centennial Trail and the Airport Trail, $99,000 to construct sidewalks on Gifford Avenue, $15,000 to offset costs of a commercial food composting program and $50,000 for city storm water pass through.

The Arlington Municipal Airport has received more than $1 million to purchase property so far in 2009, while the fire department has received more than $200,000 to pay for the salaries of two firefighters.

The city’s community development department has obtained an $80,000 grant to complete its Shoreline Master Plan Update.

The last city grant was for the police department. The approximately $14,000 grant funds technology that allows officers access to database information from their vehicles.

Banfield said that the city has been more successful in receiving grants this year compared with previous years, adding that the dollar amount is considerably higher than previous years.

“The number we’ve applied for is about the same,” Banfield said. “We’ve really worked on a collaborative effort in making sure that they’re extremely well-written (grants).”