Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank has approved $377,500 in Community Project Assistance Fund grants to eight municipalities statewide, including $77,500 for projects in Jamestown and Middletown.
The grants will provide technical assistance for design, feasibility analysis and strategic planning for projects advancing community resilience, stormwater management and public infrastructure improvements.
Jamestown received $27,500 for a Wastewater Treatment Climate Resilience Plan that will assess current and projected impacts from natural hazards on the town’s collection and treatment systems. The plan will identify adaptation methods to make wastewater infrastructure resilient to sea-level rise and high natural hazard events.
Middletown was awarded $50,000 for shoreline management at Second and Third beaches. The project will address ongoing erosion, sediment transport challenges and impacts of sea level rise and extreme weather events at beaches critical to the town’s economy, recreation and environmental health. Work includes survey data analysis, drone imagery analysis and model refinement.
“We hear from our cities and town partners all the time that they need help getting key infrastructure projects off the ground with initial planning and technical assistance,” said Bill Fazioli, executive director of Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. “That is why we created the Community Project Assistance Fund.”
Other grant recipients include Lincoln, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Scituate, South Kingstown and West Warwick for projects ranging from dam improvements to sewer overflow mitigation.
The Community Project Assistance Fund remains open to additional municipal applications until grant resources are exhausted.
For more information, visit riib.org.