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If the federal stimulus money made its way here… |
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Wednesday, 04 March 2009 |
BY ABBY FOX
Tim Brown, general manager of the Kent County Water Authority, doesn’t know how, when, or if he can take advantage of the multi-billion dollar federal stimulus package as it’s being funneled throughout the country – but he knows what he’d like to get.
“We have five projects we’ve outlined that are shovel-ready that we would like to use stimulus funds for, if they’re available,” he said, including 40,000 feet (8 miles) of water main pipe, more than $10 million dollars worth; $15 million for the authority’s well field and treatment facility in Coventry/West Greenwich; $13 million to refurbish a booster station on bald hill road, called the Quaker Lane booster station; and a high service main, from that booster station to the high service gradient, where “we’ve had difficulty supplying during high demand months (the summer).”
Brown said last week he was “sending data out to the congressional delegation,” but he knows “it’s going to take time. We’re trying to get all our information out to the right people. We’ll just wait and see.”
Brown said he’s read that $2 billion is set aside for water work throughout the country, but as much as $4 million for waste water work.
East Greenwich has its own funding hopes, such as the Pinewood sewer pump station project for about 70 homes, the Sun Valley storm drain project, and a bike path as part of the town’s landfill project.
All those projects fit the “shovel-ready” criteria, Public Works Director Joe Duarte said.
“We need projects going again, and get people back to work,” he said, saying he’ll do “whatever I can do to get these projects out.”
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