Warren will be receiving a small but significant piece of the nearly $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package that was passed by both chambers of Congress and now awaits a signature from President Biden.

Included within the massive package is earmarked funding for Warren to improve its fire protection capacity in the rural Touisset region and money to make improvements to the Town’s police headquarters.

“In order to help working families and deliver a strong return on investment to taxpayers, we’ve got to make smart, forward-looking investments with the limited dollars available,” said Senator Jack Reed in an announcement of the package passing through the Senate. “This appropriations package will upgrade Rhode Island’s infrastructure and makes critical investments in highways, bridges, airports, public housing, and other public assets that benefit citizens and businesses alike.”

$825,000 for Touisset fire protection
Congressman David Cicilline announced on Friday that 15 Rhode Island projects he advocated for, valued at more than $22 million in the package, had made it into the final iteration of the bill. One of those projects includes money to install underground water storage tanks in Touisset to assist firefighters in the rural area.

“Homes in the area either rely on individual wells or are connected to a community well, which is shallow and does not provide sufficient flow for fire protection purposes,” states a press release from Cicilline’s office. “The area has experienced residential fires over the past two years, resulting in total losses for two properties. This investment will provide important resources to address local public safety concerns.”

Reached Monday, Fire Chief James Sousa was thankful for the appropriation and how it will help benefit emergency preparedness in Touisset.

“Now that we have the approval we’re going to start looking for suitable locations to store underground storage tanks of at least 20,000 gallons,” he said.

Sousa said that the issue of having no ready access to water for fire protection in Touisset had been well known to firefighters, but the issue received heightened attention in recent years after high-profile fire incidents — such as the Easter weekend fires this year, one of which caused extensive damage to a barn and claimed the lives of six head of cattle, and prompted a large response from multiple municipalities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

“We’ve had to rely on water tankers before,” he said. “We still would, but it’s a distance less traveled going from these underground storage tanks.”

Police station improvements
Included within the spending package is $2.2 million for Warren to make improvements to its police headquarters at 1 Joyce St. The bill also hints at an “expansion” of the station.

Although there has been no public discussion of the improvements to be made yet, we have learned that the first priority target for the town in using this money will be to revamp and improve the department’s dispatch center.

A new fire/rescue HQ still in preliminary process
Senator Reed made an appearance over the summer announcing he had included an earmark of around $2 million to to assist Warren with funding to build a new fire department and rescue headquarters. That funding passed last fiscal year. The town has likewise committed $1 million of its own funds to those efforts in conjunction with the federal boost.

In July, the Town Council approved a feasibility study for a town-owned parcel located behind the Bristol County Water Authority’s plant near the intersection of Kickemuit and Serpentine Roads that could become the site for the new headquarters. As of Monday, Sousa said that the Town was currently collaborating with architects to conceptualize the station.

“We’re going to design options for what the property will allow us to do,” he said, adding that the town will still need to identify additional funding to support the construction of the station, which would include space for personnel training, community access for things like vaccinations, and space for apparatus and emergency dispatch personnel. “The feasibility process has shown the location to be suitable.”