Hartford to manage federal grant for West Cornwall’s future wastewater plant

CORNWALL — Concerns regarding a potential halt on government grants raised questions about the funding for West Cornwall’s sewer project.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway described it as “the three-million-dollar question.”

The grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was approved in 2022, was awarded to fund roughly half the cost of the $6.2 million wastewater plant. Planning for the project has been ongoing since 2015.

A Jan. 27 memo from President Trump froze all federal grant moneys. The memo was rescinded Jan. 29 and the freeze was thawed due to questionable legality.

Following these developments, Ridgway checked in with the town’s HUD contact in Washington D.C. He was redirected to the Connecticut office, which explained the town’s grant is now being administered through Hartford.

“The word we got from the Department of Housing and Urban Development was that the freeze order that was put out [last] month will not affect this project. So that sounds pretty definite,” said Ridgway at a meeting of the Wastewater Management Project in West Cornwall Village Construction Committee Feb. 11.

Although it was approved three years ago, no money has been released to Cornwall to date. Reimbursement for project costs can begin after the design phase of the facility gets underway.

Members of the Committee discussed next steps at the February meeting. Engineer Steve McDonnell said the team is prepared to send out Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) to prospective design firms.

The Committee planned to finalize the RFQ for release later this month. It was hopeful to have responses by the next meeting, which is scheduled for March 11.