October 28, 2022 |
With a few notable exceptions, the State Loan and Investment Board awarded $50 million in water and sewer grants to local governments Thursday along the lines recommended by SLIB.
Governor Mark Gordon began the meeting acknowledging that the demand for water and sewer projects exceeded the available amount of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding by nearly five times. The governor offered hope to communities that came away empty-handed in this round of funding, saying more opportunities are on the horizon. Director of the Office of State Land and Investments Jennifer Scoggin listed a few revenue streams for water and sewer projects currently available and some that will be coming online in the near future.
Representative Evan Simpson also addressed the board before the process of diving up the $50 million pot of ARPA funds began. Rep. Simpson of Afton, House District 21, is the chair of the select water committee.
Rep. Simpson offered a brief history of how the program was conceived and built by the water committee, saying the original tranche of money for local projects was nearly twice the size the legislature ultimately passed.
The chairman of the water committee said $50 million is not nearly enough to answer the needs in the state. Simpson said his committee will meet next week to discuss new legislation that will help.
The remarks from both Representative Simpson and Director Scoggins came early in the meeting to assure communities like Rawlins which were unsuccessful in the application process that they are not being ignored. Governor Gordon went out of his way to point out that the application process was built to avoid accusations that process was political. He encouraged the board to accept the SLIB’s recommendations.
The board followed the governor’s guidance for projects scoring less than 15 points on their applications with one major exception. After a lengthy discussion, SLIB deducted project funding from both Green River and Gillette to fund a project in Burlington that had received a score of 12, which fell below the line of fundable projects.
Interim Secretary of State Karl Allred said without the funding, the Town of Burlington would be in violation of EPA standards.
The mayor of Burlington, Larry George, holds a day job as a schoolteacher. Located in Big Horn County, Burlington has a population of about 290. Mayor George said the town’s lagoon system was built to serve about 150 people. That’s a problem. And so was trying to figure out the application for the SLIB grant.
Ten Sleep Mayor Ernie Beckley said that his town lost points by not having a “shovel ready” project, which he called unfair because engineering costs for a project that might not happen was something his town cannot afford.
Projects designed, scoped and ready for bid were given high points in the application scoring matrix because ARPA funds were intended by Congress to be put to work in the economy as soon as possible.
State Auditor Kristi Racine expressed empathy for the plight of small towns like Burlington and Ten Sleep but urged for the board to exert “tough accountant love.” Racine said if Washington rejected a funding allocation because it violated a federal rule, the small town involved would be on the hook for the money.
Racine’s argument carried with other appeals, and Burlington became the exception to the rule yesterday. About an hour into meeting, the fate of the application from Rawlins was sealed when SLIB voted to accept the recommendation of no funding to projects that scored a 15 or below.
Rawlins received a score of nine, lower even that Burlington’s, so the city’s application was rejected with the motion.
Other Carbon County communities which received scores above 15, including Encampment ($1.4 million), Saratoga ($966,000) and Dixon ($575,000) were successful in their funding requests.
Of the 19 original projects recommended for funding by SLIB, 13 remained unmodified by the board’s deliberations. Some projects scoring lower than 17 were awarded more funding than recommended at the expense of projects in bigger cities, such as Casper, Gillette, Green River and Sheridan. In all about $8,000,000 was shuffled to provide funding to projects scoring below 17 points but above 15.
Thursday’s meeting began shortly after 9 a.m. and adjourned three hours later shortly after noon. Governor Gordon promised it was the first of several meetings to fund similar projects to come in the next few months.
