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June 15, 2006– Celebrating Flag Day (June 14), this year, involved more than honoring “Old Glory” for area legislators and their constituents with the release of a Supplemental FY 06 Budget from a Joint House – Senate Conference Committee. As legislators and staff reviewed the items in this budget bill, that utilizes remaining unspent funds from the fiscal year that ends on June 30, it became apparent that the constant advocacy of Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) and area State Representatives had succeeded in “bringing home the bacon.”
“Thanks to the efforts of my House colleagues, along with my own in the Senate, South Central Massachusetts towns will gain extraordinary help in addressing a number of important projects,” Senator Moore stated. He gave special credit to Representatives Marie J. Parente (D-Milford), George Peterson (R-Grafton), Paul Kujawski (D-Webster), Paul Frost (R-Auburn), Mark Carron (D-Southbridge), and Jennifer Callahan (D-Sutton) in announcing the approval of the long list of items contained in the budget document.
“No single legislator can ever take total credit for any budget item,” Senator Moore explained. “It takes the House and Senate, working together, to bring home results; and the legislative team serving our region always places the needs of our collective districts foremost in this process,” he added.
Among the local items included in the Supplemental Budget Conference report that will be sent to the Governor in the next few days are:
• A grant of $44,008 for Alternatives Unlimited of Whitinsville to restore damage caused by last October’s flooding at the forge building at Whitin Mill.
• $50,000 for Bellingham for the restoration and preservation of historic buildings.
• $100,000 for Mendon for emergency repairs to bridges, culverts and waterways for damage in the October 2005 floods.
• $100,000 for Hopedale for emergency repairs to bridges, culverts and waterways for damage in the October 2005 floods.
• $400,000 for Milford for emergency repairs to bridges, culverts and waterways for damage in the October 2005 floods.
• $200,000 for design and development of the Quinbaug Valley Rail Trail in Southbridge, Dudley and Webster. (The state has already purchased the unused former Providence and Worcester 11 mile right of way for $1.3 million through the efforts of Senator Moore and Representative Carron.)
• $50,000 for a feasibility of study of a regional salt storage shed in the town of Sutton.
• $16,000 to improve, upgrade and repair traffic signals at the intersection of Hopedale Streets and Route 16 (Mendon Street) in Hopedale. (Coincidentally, it was Senator Moore, as a state representative, who first obtained the traffic signals at this intersection.)
• $1.5 million for design, construction, and permitting of the Blackstone River Bikeway and the Northern Gateway Visitors Center.
• $1.6 million for the state share of the Route 146 connector project leading from the Mass Pike into Worcester.
• $20,000 for food service and maintenance equipment for the planned Millville Senior Center (The town has already received an $800,000 grant for construction of the Center to be built off Hope Street.)
• $155,000 and, an additional $60,325 worth of in-kind services, for the state share of the first year funding of a two year project to complete an agreement with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers for an on-going environmental investigation of the Blackstone River with special focus on Fisherville Pond in Grafton and Rice City Pond in Uxbridge. The project will lead to restoration of fishable/swimmable sections of the river in the years to come.
• $250,000 to the town of Hopedale for a comprehensive study, including a management plan, for the restoration and maintenance of Hopedale Pond along the Mill River.
• $100,000 for the MetroWest/495 Corridor Partnership promoting economic development of the I-495 Corridor including the towns of Milford and Bellingham.
• $399,316 to renovate and re-open the Worcester Regional Office of the Chief Medical Examiner at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester to serve Central Massachusetts communities.
• Requiring the Registry of Motor Vehicles to operate their Milford Registry Office as a full-service office on a five day per week basis.
“Our delegation looks forward to the Conference Committee’s release in the coming weeks of the state budget for next year (FY ’07) which should contain even more good news for our region,” Senator Moore noted. “We are appreciative of the support that our efforts received from Senate President Robert Travaglini, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and the members of the House-Senate Conference Committee,” he added.
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