By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

PUTNAM — With more federal money assured, the town’s tech park infrastructure is heading toward done — hopefully by November.

Putnam received word last week that the United States Department of Agriculture was giving the go-ahead for $640,000 in a USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) loan and a RUS grant of $274,400. The total is $914,400.

Town Administrator Douglas M. Cutler said the town had submitted a preliminary engineering report and an environmental study and those were approved and there is money available. The funds are for water and sewer lines at the Quinebaug Regional Technical Park.  He said the $640,000 in loan money must be used first. 

Cutler said Wheelabrator gave the town permission to use the forced main for pumping sewage to the town’s sewer plant. The new federal money will be used to move the forced main a bit, install a lift station and to put sewer lines in for the four lots in Phase I of the park.  

In addition the funds will be used to run water lines to the four lots in Phase I of the park. 

The company which won the bid to put in the park’s roads will be installing the water and sewer lines as well.

The lines would be placed in such a way that when the town moves into Phase II of the park, those lines can be easily extended into the Phase II portion of the park.

Cutler said the town met with Eversource last week about extending the natural gas line that ends near Arch Street. Eversource is working on a contract with the town for that. 

That would involve the natural gas pipeline being extended up Park Street to Kennedy Drive and then crossing over into the new tech park. The pipeline would be attached underneath the entrance bridge that is currently under construction.

The bridge construction is a bit behind, Cutler said, because of the weather, but he still hopes all the utilities and roads and bridge will be done by November.

“We’re shooting for all in one building season,” he said.