Echo Bay on Candlewood Lake is one area covered by the CLA Marine Patrol
FirstLight Hydro Generating Company has awarded its first grant from the recently established Housatonic River Project Fund to the Candlewood Lake Authority.
The CLA will receive a $10,000 grant to help fund the purchase of new radios for its Marine Patrol. The radios enable patrol members to communicate with the stte Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and emergency dispatch in the event of an emergency on the lake.
“The CLA grant request for funding of its public safety radios is a great example of how FirstLight’s funding can help community organizations,’ said Len Greene, spokesman for DGF Suez, FirstLight’s parent company.
Greene said the $10,000 grant is in keeping with the Fund’s mission to promote environmental protection, energy efficiency and public safety in the 23-town Housatonic River region.
Phyllis Schaer, CLA chairwoman, said Wednesday that she appreciated the early notice from FirstLight regarding the grant.
“This relieves our concern about being able to get our Lake Patrol out with radios for communication,” Schaer said. “Perhaps this will be a way for the CLA and FirstLight to work with each other while meeting corporate needs.”
Schaer said this was a “matching grant” with a private donor providing another $10,000 toward the radios. The CLA has submitted two other grant applications to the Housatonic River Project Fund.
FirstLight has reduced its annual direct funding to the CLA to $10,000 for next year and coming years, an 80 percent funding cut.