First Selectman Matt Riiska has received the welcome news that $500,000 in grant money will be coming to the town to help construct the new firehouse. The office of U.S. Congresswoman Jahanna Hayes informed him Thursday that the grant he applied for will be released to the community in a couple of months.
Last week, after the Fire House Committee had made draconian cuts to the proposed facility, Riiska had said he still needed to find just under $1 million in further reductions. This money should help close that gap.
Last spring, Riiska applied for grants totaling $1.5 million from discretionary funds handled by the offices of Hayes and Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy. The applications were favorably reported out of the Appropriations Committee and the town was cautiously optimistic that it would receive the funding for the firehouse.
Then Congress failed to pass a budget for 2025 and approved a continuing resolution that duplicated appropriations in the 2023-24 budget, forcing the government to operate at the same spending level. Subsequently, the release of 2025 Congressional Discretionary funds has been a point of contention between the Trump Administration and Congress.
The government continues to operate under the March 2025 continuing resolution that extends appropriations until September 30, and the House has passed only five of the 12 appropriations bills.
The lack of the money darkened the financial cloud over the firehouse project, which has been significantly affected by the Trump Administration’s tariff proposals. Anticipating increased costs, contractors bid high, boosting the cost of the structure to more than $11 million.
While Hayes’ office has verified that the $500,000 will be forthcoming, Riiska said the senatorial grant will not. “Someone will have to reapply for that grant in the next federal fiscal year,” he said. “Blumenthal’s and Murphy’s staff have confirmed that we won’t be getting it. They had something like 11 applications and only funded eight. We were not one of them.”
Riiska is not running for office in November, leaving the task to his successor.