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Travaglini met with the Milford Pond Restoration Committee during a busy visit to the area arranged by state Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge. 

The Senate president pledged support for the cleanup after hearing appeals from local and state officials, as well as longtime residents who recalled the pond as a once-vibrant recreation spot. 

"If I involve myself in this campaign, my suspicion is you’ll get the resources you need," Travaglini said. 

Both the state and town have previously committed some funding for the project. About $7.7 million is still needed, and state or local governments would have to pick up $2.7 million of that cost, said Michael Tuttle, a project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal government’s expected share is about $5 million, he said. 

Milford can chip in toward that $2.7 million goal, if need be, said Dino DeBartolomeis, chairman of the restoration committee. 

"The town is willing to put some money in too, because we believe this is a partnership between the state, local and federal levels," he said. 

State Rep. Marie Parente, D-Milford, who also attended yesterday’s meeting, said Travaglini’s visit was very productive. 

"When you get a man like the Senate president saying he’ll put the weight of his office behind this project...I think it’s a major step," said Parente, who has worked with Moore for years to secure state funds for the cleanup. 

At the meeting, Parente said Department of Conservation and Recreation officials previously committed funds for the project, but later said they wanted a more solid commitment from federal officials for their share. 

"I think (the DCR) just need another little push, and I think that can happen with your intervention and the speaker’s (Salvatore DiMasi)," Parente said. 

Parente also noted the pond is at the headwaters of the Charles River, and Bartolomeis noted there are nearby town fields. 

Travaglini said he would contact the DCR, as well as Gov. Mitt Romney’s office, to try to advance the project. 

He said he was impressed by three members of the restoration committee -- Frank Andreotti Sr., Lou Parente and Achille Diotalevi -- who spoke in favor of cleaning up the pond. 

"I’ve got a responsibility to respond," Travaglini said. 

Andreotti said he lived across the street from the pond and had pressed for 50 or 60 years to clean it up. Diotalevi said he also had lived nearby for 80 or so years, and Parente recalled skating there as a youth. 

"I just hope I’m alive when you people finally get (the pond) fixed the way it’s supposed to be," Diotalevi said. "I thank you." 

Since the late ’70s, the pond has seen a decline in water quality and has become clogged with weeds. Accumulated sediment also is gradually filling the pond. 

The proposed cleanup would dredge 45 acres of the 120-acre pond to a maximum depth of 12 feet. This not only would restore part of the pond, but protect the habitat of four species of endangered birds, said Tuttle, of the Army Corps. 

"You can envision what it was 50, 60 years ago," Tuttle said. "After decades of sediment filling in, it’s a wasted resource." 

While the Army Corps had hoped to begin dredging the first 25 acres in 2007, getting permits for the work has proven more time-consuming than initially expected, Tuttle said. The Army Corps is now aiming to begin work in 2008. 

Parente said after yesterday’s meeting that the project has been kept alive in tough fiscal times, thanks to the work she and Moore did to secure small portions of state funding. 

After her defeat in the September primary election, Parente said she would like to see the project move ahead before she leaves office. 

"You bring the ball that close to the line, you want a touchdown," she said. 

Moore also hailed yesterday’s meeting with Travaglini, adding that the Senate president also may contact Sen. Edward Kennedy to secure federal funds. "I think it is a huge step forward," he said. 

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