City wins federal grant for hydrant repainting and lead remediation

WOONSOCKET — Over $540,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds are returning to city coffers now that the city has been awarded a separate federal grant to repair and repaint almost 2,000 fire hydrants and remove lead hazards in city water lines.

On Friday, Mayor Lisa Badelli-Hunt announced a $775,000 Congressionally Directed Spending award for the two projects. The city had originally planned to use $541,000 of ARPA funds for the hydrants, passing an ordinance to do so in November; that money can now be reappropriated to another project.

“I am incredibly grateful to receive this award so that our City can remove lead contaminants from our fire hydrants and waterlines, making our City safer for our children, adults and pets,” Baldelli-Hunt said in a statement. “Lead removal has been a high priority of my administration, and we have worked hard to obtain multiple federal grants to help us do so.”

The Congressionally Direct Spending program is part of the U.S. Senate’s appropriations process. Senators can submit requests to the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Sen. Jack Reed (D_ RI) is a member, to be included in the fiscal year’s appropriations bill. The $775,000 grant was part of the $154 million in Rhode Island requests granted last fiscal year.

Woonsocket has already awarded a contract for the hydrant repainting and rehabilitation work to Keltic Painting, a company chosen for their “experience, qualifications and the fact that they were the lowest bidder,” according to a September press release.

The federal grant will also go toward removing cityowned lead water service lines.

“Every single child deserves to grow up with safe drinking water at home and a neighborhood free of lead hazards that can cause tragic lifelong effects,” Sen.

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said in a statement.

Reed’s Congressionally Directed Spending requests for Woonsocket for fiscal year 2023 include $2 million for a new Boys and Girls Club of Northern Rhode Island facility and $4 million for

bridge repair and replacement, funneled through the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Whitehouse requested $225,000 for maintenance repairs to all veteran recovery housing.

Collectively, the two Rhode Island Senators have requested over $626 million for the state for next fiscal year. Last year, Woonsocket also received $1.08 million for NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley’s Neighborhood Healthy

Housing, Jobs and Economic Development Initiative and $2.5 million for lead remediation on bridges, according to Reed’s office.

The city expects work on the two projects to continue through the summer and fall, according to the mayor’s office.