The Village of South Blooming Grove proudly announces it has been awarded a grant in the amount of $660,000 through
the New York State Water Infrastructure Improvement Act for the long-awaited Merriewold Water Improvement project.
The new filtration system will cost the village approximately $1.2 million, of which $985,000 will be funded with grant money.
“We have been battling water problems in the Village of South Blooming Grove for years. With the guidance and expertise of our village engineers and water operator, we have been able to secure three separate grants, with the WIIA being the largest, to help fund our water improvement project. This never would have been possible without the hard work of these individuals as well as my staff. The Village Trustees have served as huge proponents of the project and have spent countless hours emailing and on the phone with elected officials at the county and state levels. I would like to personally thank New York Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, New York State Senator,James Skoufis, and United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for their help and support in securing the WIIA grant.
Assemblyman Schmitt’s Water Quality Task Force helped bring to light our village’s challenges concerning clean drinking water and for that I will be forever grateful,” said Village of South Blooming Grove Mayor James LoFranco. Mayor LoFranco has been successful in his two years as mayor in securing three grants for water improvements in
the Village of South Blooming Grove, a grant for leak detection throughout the village’s eleven miles of water infrastructure, and a grant for stormwater improvements. After being rejected for the WIIA grant last year, the Village of South Blooming Grove persevered and was successful after another round of applications and analyses. “I have surrounded myself with the some of the most talented and knowledgeable minds in the surrounding area. Our team has come up with a plan with many moving parts- from funding to design to construction. I am proud to be a part of this project and look forward to seeing it to completion,” said LoFranco.
