BY ANDREAS YILMA
Citizens News
PROSPECT — Residents of the Coachlight Circle neighborhood will be getting relief for long-standing water supply issues with nearly $1 million in federal funds.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, visited Prospect Town Hall on Friday where she presented Mayor Robert J. Chatfield with $959,757 in Community Project Funding for a water main installation. “This is great news for the residents of Coachlight Circle. This funding will enable us to move forward with the installation of new water lines which will rectify the insufficient water supply issues these families have been facing,” Chatfield said in a news release.
“Congresswoman DeLauro has been a longtime advocate for water infrastructure expansion in Prospect. I thank her for recognizing the need here in Prospect and securing these federal funds to help us address it.”
Chatfield said that neighborhood has been experiencing water supply issues for nine years.
The newly allocated funds for the town marks the fourth time that DeLauro was able to secure funding for this section of town which including Putting Green Lane, Straitsville Road and Cambridge Drive. This grant is the biggest one yet for the town.
“It’s going to do two things. It’s going to give them potable water so they can live a normal life like everybody else in town. It’s also going to for every 1,000 feet of water main we put in, we put in a fire hydrant,” Chatfield said. “That will also give them fire suppression.”
At least half a dozen fire hydrants will be added to the neighborhood, he said.
Some residents have to wash clothes at a laundry mat where some others have pool trucks full of water dumped on their wells to have water.
Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee DeLauro secured $16.4 million for local projects in the state in the 2024 funding bill.
“I am proud to have secured needed dollars to fund several projects in our community,” DeLauro said. “When I was Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, I fought to bring back community project funding. I strongly believe Members of Congress know their communities best, and I am pleased that they can once again hear from the people they represent and direct spending to local projects that help their states thrive.”
One of the other projects includes $1 million for property acquisition for Main Street South Transit Oriented Development and road construction.
Prospect officials now have to bid the project out. There will be a future public meeting for the project.
Work is expected to begin by early spring is estimated to take about seven weeks to finish.
Chatfield said he’s gotten over $8 million worth of grants, not including the cur#<t$>rent one, for several past town projects including water main, water tank and a pump station since the 1980s.
