LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD) has been awarded $249,865 in state funding assistance through the Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Program, which will help pay for the expansion of the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure.
Lynnfield was one of 39 communities to be awarded funding through the program, which is administered by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and the Division of Local Services. House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading) and State Sen. Brendan P. Crighton (D-Lynn) congratulated Town Administrator Rob Dolan and Department of Public Works Director John Scenna, who also serves as the LCWD’s director, for their work in securing the competitive grant.
This grant money will enable the LCWD to create a more sustainable, efficient and reliable fiber network for the town of Lynnfield by updating its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which is nearly three decades old. Specifically, the LCWD plans to upgrade the system from remote radio signalization to fiber optic signalization, which will provide significant benefits to the community.
With the planned upgrades, the LCWD will be better positioned to monitor its infrastructure both existing and that currently being constructed, to ensure that it can continue to offer a safe drinking water system to its customers that meets all state and regulatory requirements. Because the current system is monitored remotely three times more than in person during a typical calendar week, the planned system upgrades will provide for improved efficiency and security.
“Our operators rely heavily on this system,” said LCWD Board of Water Commissioners Chair Steve Walsh. “The opportunity to provide them with more accurate and reliable resources and tools to use daily is a fantastic opportunity, moreover when funded off the water rate. This is another great collaboration whereby utilizing the town’s existing fiber system has assisted LCWD in creating efficiency in its operation. Thank you to Sen. Crighton, Rep. Jones and Chair Phil Crawford and the Lynnfield Select Board for this opportunity.”
Jones agreed.
“This grant funding will facilitate the expansion of Lynnfield’s fiber optic network to help the Lynnfield Center Water District more effectively monitor the town’s drinking water supply,” said Jones. “This program is a perfect example of the type of strong state-municipal partnerships that are needed to ensure that communities have the financial resources to carry out critical upgrades that will have a positive impact on local residents.”
Crighton concurred with Jones’ viewpoint.
“With this grant, the Lynnfield Center Water District will be able to upgrade their signalization systems ensuring that they can more accurately and reliably monitor their water supply,” said Crighton. “Having access to safe drinking water is critically important and I am grateful for the collaboration between the town and state so that LCWD can take the necessary steps to ensure their monitoring system is up-to-date.”
Scenna said the LCWD’s customers have approved close to $25 million in funding over the last three years to carry out a variety of capital improvements for Lynnfield’s water infrastructure system. The additional financial support provided by the Municipal Fiber Grant will go a long way to further enhance the LCWD’s ongoing efforts to maintain a robust and reliable drinking water system for its customers.
The Municipal Fiber Grant Program is designed to help communities with the construction or completion of their municipal fiber networks. The funding allows cities and towns to address critical gaps in their existing municipal fiber networks including taking steps to enhance cyber security.
The Municipal Fiber Grant is one of four competitive grants offered through the Community Compact Cabinet Program, which also makes funding available to municipalities pursuing best practices, efficiency and regionalization, and information technology projects.