November 3, 2022 |
Rawlins city staff may have pulled off what appeared to be an impossible task. Facing a Monday deadline to complete an income survey needed for an application to secure two $1 million Housing and Urban Development grants, staff beat the odds by working through the weekend.
As reported previously, the WCDA, which operates the federal Community Block Development Grant process in the state, provided city hall with a list of 450 addresses chosen at random to participate in the five-question survey. Letters were sent out in early October to those residences with a heads-up about the door-to-survey.
Some of the addresses provided by the state were invalid. Some of the pre-selected households were difficult to reach. An around-the-clock effort last weekend resulted in an under-the-wire finish. Interim City Manager Tom Sarvey offered a preview as he detailed money that would be needed in the coming year to update the city’s water infrastructure.
Pictured above: Rawlins City Hall. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
SCADA is a software system that operates the pumps and machinery at the water treatment plant.
Sarvey told council during Tuesday’s work session that the existing computer system needs immediate replacement to avoid a catastrophic failure. He estimated the replacement cost at $2 million. The city already has earmarked $200,000 in impact assistance funding for the design phase of the work. One of the two, $1 million CBDG grants would be used to cover some of the remaining cost.
Scoring the CBDG grants would be a huge success story after missing out on the SLIB grant last week.
The city needed to turn in at least 350 of the surveys to have a shot at the survey being accepted by the state. Sarvey said at close of business last Friday, 70 of the households still had not been reached. Staff members, including Mira Miller, Pam Thayer and Angela Hammond, along with volunteers, worked through the weekend.
The interim city manager called it an “amazing effort.” Mayor Terry Weickum thanked the team that worked diligently and never gave up their efforts to complete the task.
Public Information Officer Mira Miller told council that in the end 360 households submitted surveys, beating the minimum threshold by 10. Miller thanked the residents of Rawlins and Sinclair, all of whom were selected at random, who participated in the survey.
The state will now analyze the income data to determine if Rawlins is eligible for the grants which are designed to help low-and-moderate income communities. According to HUD eligibility guidelines at least 51 percent of the residents (individuals, not households or families) must fall below the median income limits for the area.
The 2020 census showed the city was slightly above that mark but allowed the survey to gauge if changes in the economy over the last two years have affected income levels in the area.
If Rawlins is successful with both grants, one would be used to cover some of the replacement costs for the SCADA system. The other $1 million grant would be used for the Phase 3 transmission line project, which is estimated to cost about $4 million.
