Seventh District Congressman Eugene Vindman was in the Town of Orange late last month to present a community project funding grant.
Vindman had previously announced that $800,000 had been secured to update the town’s water treatment process. The funds will be used to construct a liquid feed building at the 59-year-old water plant, modernizing the water treatment process. The upgrade will reduce reliance on dry chemicals, improve treatment reliability and bring the town’s system in line with neighboring localities.
Town manager Chris Snider said the grant will be instrumental in funding the liquid feed building project which was previously in a holding pattern due to the $2 million cost.
“Having this support is immeasurable,” Snider said.
The project will increase efficiencies, but also employee safety as Snider said currently employees manually load the feed.
“This will save money and give better results,” he said.
Snider and mayor Harrison Cluff credited director of finance Dianna Gomez for her work in applying for the grant.
“We’re here today because of the efforts of Dianna,” Cluff said. “She and her team put together an application in a short amount of time.”
The funding was secured as part of a House-passed fiscal year 2026 appropriations package through the community project funding process which allows members of Congress to request targeted federal investments for local projects.
