Prospect, school board partner to install water line

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BEACON FALLS — The Region 16 Board of Education has agreed to partner with the town of Prospect to install a water main on Route 69.

Prospect Mayor Robert Chatfield went before the school board last Thursday and requested the board fund 45 percent of a project to put in a water main on Route 69 from money bonded for the school building project.

Chatfield explained the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has $495,000 earmarked for the town to start installing a water line at Lombard Drive. The federal government is requesting some money be turned back, he said. The money the town has available must be used for 55 percent of the project and the town needs to find matching funds for the rest, he said.

Chatfield pointed out since the district is building the new school it would have to pay for a water line to be put in that would extend to the school. By partnering with the town, he said, the district could save about $200,000.

“The money that you saved on the installation of the line that I put in from federal funds could be used for kids’ stuff,” Chatfield told the board.

Chatfield said if the board could pay for the line to be installed from Lombard Drive to Coer Road, which sits on the property line of the new school site, the town could extend the line past the school site. He said the town would also be able to put in three additional fire hydrants.

Chatfield told the board he didn’t have exact figures yet, but estimated it would cost about $150 to $175 a foot to install the line.

The board agreed to partner with the town emphasizing that if it didn’t the district would be responsible for 100 percent of the costs for installing a water line to the new school.

“This is a no brainer,” board member Robert Hiscox said. “It’s a win win for everybody.”