Published: June 01, 2007 10:46 am      

Charlestown will receive federal, state help

The city of Charlestown will receive more than a half million dollars in federal help on the construction of a new water-treatment plant.

Officials announced Thursday that a $525,000 grant will be awarded to the city. The amount will cover about one third of the cost of the plant, according to Mike Hall, Charlestown’s mayor.

“This is a major step in taking care of a water problem that we’ve been battling for a number of years,” Hall said. “We will now be able to clean-up old lines that are affected by discoloration.”

The problem of dirty water is an old one in Charlestown. Most of the city’s water and sewer system was built in the 1940s. About three years ago, a study conducted by Hannum, Wagle & Cline Engineering recommended building a new water-treatment plant.

The study said a plant was needed to reduce the level of manganese and iron in the city’s water system. The city also was advised to replace deteriorating lines and construct a new 500,000-gallon water tower. All totaled, it’s a more than $3 million project.

Since then city residents have put up with water-rate increases and brown water coming out of the tap as a result of some of the improvement. Hall believes that the new plant will put an end to the brown water problem.

However, his mayoral opponent in next fall’s election, Republican Bob Hall (no relation), has his doubts. He believes that the city cannot afford the plant project with or without a grant. A half million dollars grant still is going to leave city leaders in a position where they will have to raise water rates, he said. He contends that the filtration plant will not help, saying that most of the problem is in the water lines.

Mike Hall counters that claim by citing the engineers; saying that a filtration plant will allow them to clean up lines through chemical treatment.

A timetable for the project is still unclear. The engineering phase and bid specs have yet to be finished. Mike Hall declined to say when the project would be completed or even started. In the past, however, city officials have mentioned early 2008 as a possible completion time.

The grant that was delivered was a Community Focus Fund grant. It’s the same grant in which city officials asked residents to help them complain about water quality last February. Basically, it’s federal money being administered by the state. Rep. Terry Goodin and Steve Stemler commented in a press release Thursday that they were happy to see Charlestown receiving the money.

“The federal government awards a very limited number of CFF grants per year, therefore there is heavy competition between local communities to obtain these grants,” Goodin said. “Rep. Stemler and I are very pleased to see that the efforts put forth by Charlestown officials have paid off, and that Charlestown will now have the necessary funding to complete this water treatment project.”