Newport gets $713,000 U.S. aid for boating center

WASHINGTON – The City of Newport and the R.I. Department of Environmental Management will receive a federal grant of $713,000 to help construct a central tie-up facility for visiting boaters, with restrooms and other amenities.
The award, announced last night by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through its Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BigP). Another $250,000 will be provided by the DEM, to meet federal matching-funds requirements, giving the project a budget of at least $963,000.
“I am pleased that Newport is receiving this federal funding to build a new boating facility,” said Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee. “The city is vital to Rhode Island’s tourism industry, and this money will ensure that both visitors and local boaters have access to high-quality facilities.”
Rhode Island – a first-time BigP recipient, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior – is one of 15 states awarded funds in the competitive grant program’s latest round.
BigP funds may be used to construct, renovate or maintain tie-up facilities for non-trailerable transient recreational vessels 26 feet and longer. Eligible projects include slips, mooring buoys, day-docks, floating docks and fixed piers; fixed or floating breakwaters, safe harbors, retaining walls and bulkheads; channel markers, buoys and other directional information; and support facilities including restrooms, pump-out stations, water and utility supplies, recycling and trash receptacles.
The Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BigP) is funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To learn more about the grant program or the projects it has funded, visit MyFWC.com.

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