GREENFIELD — The city has received a $176,025 grant that will allow it to purchase and install a backup generator for its 23.5-acre Millbrook Well field site, ensuring there will be no interruptions in drinking water service or water treatment during power outages.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner and Department of Public Works Director Marlo Warner said they are pleased with the “sizable grant” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, and its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The grant is administered by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, or MEMA.
The total cost of the project at the Millbrook Road site will be $228,007.50. The city has to match 25 percent of the grant, or $57,001.88, which it will do with in-kind services performed by the DPW, including installation.
“I’m grateful to Director Warner and the efforts of the Greenfield DPW to help secure this federal grant funding for the city,” Wedegartner said. “This funding will help to strengthen both the resiliency and quality of our municipal water infrastructure.”
Warner agreed that with the addition of the backup generator, the city is building a stronger resiliency into its municipal water infrastructure.
“During any potential power outages, this backup generator will help provide both potable and fire service water to Greenfield,” he said.
The generator will supply backup power to Well 2 and the corrosion-control building. It will be installed on a concrete pad on the east side of the Well 1 well house, and will be connected to an existing propane tank near the well house.
The project is within 200 feet of Mill Brook, as well as a mapped freshwater forested/shrub wetland, so it had to go through a review process and be in compliance with federal, state and local laws, including permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Warner said the installation process will most likely take place in the fall.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.