North Stonington, Preston and Salem are among the 77 small towns in Connecticut that Gov. Ned Lamont approved to receive a total of $31.3 million in state grants, the governor’s office announced Monday.

The grants are provided through the Small Town Economic Assistance Program, a grant program the state Office of Policy and Management runs. The governor’s office said funding for these grants was approved at the March 31 meeting of the State Bond Commission, and towns seeking funding had to submit applications to the state by Aug. 15.

North Stonington is getting $395,603 from the state for the North Stonington Milling and Paving Project and the North Stonington Elementary School Parking Lot Project.

First Selectman Bob Carlson said most of the funding will go toward paving Laurel Road and Old Colony Road. He explained that the town paved some roads in the Kingswood/Meadow Wood subdivision using a STEAP grant in 2020, “and we were hoping to finish the project, but we couldn’t afford to finish the whole thing.”

He said the new STEAP grant will allow the town to finish the project in the coming year. Carlson said the plan is to finish the paving project this fiscal year, and if possible, he would like contractors to get work done before it gets too cold.

As for the elementary school parking lot, he said this will be used as a playground during the day and also for overflow parking for events.

North Stonington will match the state funding with $98,901 from its own budget.

Preston is getting $498,452.13 from the state for improvements to the town transfer station and putting $55,000 in town money toward the project, which Public Works Manager James Corley said has already been partly spent on design and engineering work.

Corley said the grant will help fund the first of a two-phase project to make the transfer station more user-friendly for residents.

An oversized, obsolete underground scale that broke down in 2020 will be removed, and a retaining wall with structural issues will be repaired. The town also is redesigning the traffic pattern at the transfer station to make it more efficient for residents and businesses dropping off materials.

A second phase not yet funded would make more changes to the transfer station layout, moving containers and creating more storage space for materials, Corley said.

Salem got $372,000 in state funding approved for the rehabilitation and restoration of the bridge on Darling Road, which will be matched by $97,600 from the town.

Elsewhere in Connecticut, Lamont approved funding for sidewalks, water and sewer extensions, police and municipal building renovations, outdoor recreation facilities, and more. A full list of grants awarded can be found at bit.ly/STEAP2022.

e.moser@theday.com