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$1M Koblerville waterworks project completed
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Posted on Oct 10 2008
A $1 million federally funded waterworks project is now complete.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, joined by two federal officials, led a ribbon cutting ceremony for the finished project in Koblerville yesterday.
The project involved the enclosure of 44 electrical control panels for water wells and 25 chlorination stations by retrofitting chain link fences into solid concrete structures for added protection.
The project cost $993,000. Of this amount, $293,000 came from the Covenant Section 702 capital improvement project funds, and $70,000 from the Department of the Interior’s grant funds. The rest, some $630,000, came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s hazard mitigation grants secured after Typhoon Chaba hit the islands in 2004.
The CNMI Water Task Force administered the project. YCO Corp. was the contractor.
Fitial said the completed project “further affirms the CNMI’s commitment to prudently use federal funds for the benefit of our island community.”
“This administration is pleased to support infrastructure development for the Commonwealth,” said Fitial. “Infrastructure development, through the use of federal capital improvement project funds, is a high priority for our administration. It is an important component of our economic development, and successful projects such as this only further us along.”
Vicky Villagomez, the CNMI’s CIP coordinator, said the Commonwealth government has a pending grant application for the second phase of the project, which will involve the enclosure of 67 more water well control panels and chlorine stations.
Villagomez said the estimated cost of the project is $800,000. FEMA is expected to provide 75 percent of the needed funding, and the CNMI government is looking to the Interior Department to supply the other 25 percent.
Tom Bussanich, budget director at the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs, and Charlie Stern, a program examiner for the Office of Management and Budget, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony.
