EASTHAMPTON — At its July 10 meeting, the Easthampton City Council approved moving $299,023 from the capital stabilization fund in matching grant funds for the replacement of four aerators at the wastewater treatment plant.
Councilor Thomas Peake, chair of the finance committee explained that the four aerators and the basin are quite old, the components are getting harder and harder to find and the cost to make repairs continues to increase.
The funds are the city’s required match to two grants it received, one from the Long Island Sounds Future Funds and one from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
“With the investment, we’re unlocking a lot of money to do something that really needs to be done,” said Peake.
These grants are part of a larger plan by the city to secure as much grant funding as it can for large capital projects.
“We’re going for grant money as quickly as we can,” said Mayor Nicole Lachapelle. She added that the 2018 study, the Integrated Water Management Resource Plan, outlined the city’s water and sewer management needs which would cost roughly $22 million in necessary updates and improvements.
Councilors expressed their appreciation for how aggressively the city pursues grants to take care of some of these costs.
The transfer of funds leaves $3.7 million in the capital stabilization fund.
The council also approved the state primary warrant for the primary on Sept. 3 and moved the consideration of two new positions, a sustainability coordinator and staff engineer, to the ordinance committee.
