Politics & Government
Senior Center Gets Help With Fuel Bill
State Sen. Frank Lombardo III (D-Johnston) presents a legislative grant worth $2,000.
The Johnston Senior Center received much-needed help to cover diesel fuel costs for its fleet of buses, thanks to a $2,000 legislative grant presented by state Sen. Frank Lombardo III to center Director Anthony Zompa on April 28.
"The vans are constantly in use," Zompa explained, "and the price of fuel is up over $1.20 a gallon more than last year."
Lombardo explained that he "jumped through hoops" to wrangle the money out of the state legislature, since last year's grants "were overlooked."
Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
(The former holder of the District 25 seat, Christopher Maselli, resigned last year. Maselli was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Feb. 10, after pleading guilty to eight counts of federal bank fraud.)
In his first year as a state senator, Lombardo explained that "there was no money set aside for the town of Johnston at all" before he worked to restore the funding.
Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Zompa said the center's fuel and maintenance costs are included in one line item in the budget, and that this year, that total was $15,000.
"Of that, I'd say two-thirds of it is gas," Zompa explained. "So, if $10,000 is for gas, that (grant) is a 20-percent increase for us."
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