The Board of Finance unanimously approved a donation and a grant for two different projects at its June 24 meeting.

For the first, the Friends of the Community Center donated $115,000 toward the Community Center's splash pad project. These funds will help cover the cost of adding a built-in bathroom to the storage shed, as well as several other project components, including landscaping and fencing.

Some of the splash pad construction costs are coming from a $600,000 Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant.

The splash pad, which was first brought forward by Community Center Director Matt Ariniello in 2022, is a collaborative project with Friends of the Newtown Community Center.

The splash pad, which will offer a number of features that will spray water, will enhance the center’s offerings to members for summertime programming.

“It creates an extended space that improves current programming as well as offers options for new programming and unique summer programming,” said Ariniello in 2022.

The splash pad was in the original plans for the center, but was “taken out early on.” Water lines were installed with an eye towards doing the splash pad later.

The second project, the Safe Streets 4 All program, has received a $184,000 federal demonstration grant towards the project cost of $230,000.

The "Safety Measures" portion of the Highway Contractual Services line was increased by $50,000 in the FY2027 budget to ensure sufficient funds were available to apply for the demonstration grant. These recurring costs would be used for important safety improvements during fiscal years when no grant is applied for, so the grant does not represent an isolated increase to General Fund costs.

Some of the items that are being considered are flashing lights at crosswalks along Queen Street that will run off solar. A "barrier" is being looked at near the flagpole — really raised squares near the flagpole to discourage people from passing on the right of vehicles waiting to make a left turn onto Church Hill Road.

"It's like a lateral speed bump," said Finance Board member Jim Gaston. "People will pass on the right while other people try to cross straight onto West Street. It's very dangerous.”

Chairman John Fletcher said it was a "good start" but there was more work to be done.

SS4A launched locally in 2023 when Newtown received an 80-20 grant: $80,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation and a $20,000 in-kind match from the Town of Newtown. The local cut was part of more than $1 million allocated across the state, which in turn came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that allocated $5 billion nationally to SS4A.

The SS4A program supports the goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways. This comes at a time when traffic fatalities are at the highest level in decades. Traffic fatalities are the leading cause of death for Americans under age 54, killing over 100 people every day, according to the SS4A grant program.

Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.