GLENWOOD SPRINGS—A half million dollars will make a big splash to help build the new pool in Rifle. The 9.5 million dollar project was the big winner of the spring grants announced by the Garfield County Federal Mineral Lease District. The grant will help Rifle offset the cost of the project that was given the green light last September when voters approved the extension of existing tax. The city of Glenwood Springs will be able to make improvements to School Street with the help of a $175,000.00 FMLD grant. The town of Silt will use over $165,000.00 to improve it’s collection system. New Castle will purchase water jetting equipment with it’s $52,000.00 grant and the town of Parachute plans to put a $200,000.00 grant to good use by reconstructing Diamond Avenue. All told, the FMLD awarded nearly 1.1 million dollars in major grants to go along with over $208,000.00 in mini-grants. The mini-grants will help fund various projects across the valley including technology improvements at Ross Montessori School, a housing alarm system at a senior center in Silt and new firefighting equipment for a number of departments. The fall grant cycle begins in August and awards will be announced in October.
