Serving the 71st District with Mike Boland

On Monday, we delivered a $100,000 dollar grant to the Village of Port Byron to help alleviate their chronic water shortage. I already posted the news release for the event, but I didn't have time to put up any pictures or tell any of the story in my own words, so here's the rest of the story.

I've actually worked with more than one group of elected officials from Port Byron on this project, the well problem has been an ongoing issue for years. As Federal EPA drinking water standards become more stringent over time, villages and smaller municipal units often struggle to provide water that meets the increasingly strong regulations. The bottom line for Port Byron, was they needed another new source of water, because one of their existing wells produced water that no longer met EPA requirements.

Representative Boland was actually advised to break his grants into smaller amounts, and to also use them all for projects that would be more likely to generate a plaque or similar lasting recognition. New wells, or water tanks, or streets aren't likely to get a politician's name engraved anywhere. Investing in infrastructure like wells, water lines, sewers, or streets isn't necessarily the flashiest use of the grants we are able to access to help local governments. But, I am personally of the mind that infrastructure investments like these are often overlooked and ignored because they aren't as "sexy" as new buildings or parks.

Just another example of Mike Boland getting the job done right for the people.