Minutes 03-06-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I. The applicant (local government) must provide "match" funds that will be used for the house connections to the sewer lines and abandoning septic systems. (All houses in the area must be connected to a new system.) Connection funds can come from the applicant's enterprise fund. (Evidence of the commitment of funds must be included in the application.) II. The project budget must be sealed by a professional engineer. Documentation of cost effectiveness of the project is also required. Further, if the grant will not cover the complete project costs, the applicant must provide evidence of commitment of additional funding to meet the budget. (A project budget would need to be developed with funding sources identified and confirmed.) Priority Criteria I. Economic Need (75 points) —This criterion requires that the residential area served by the grant contain at least 51% low and moderate income households, consideration of the poverty rate of the County and the amount of the water/sewer bill relative to the median household income. (Census data, perhaps door-to-door surveys and the OWASA rate schedule will need to be reviewed to confirm compliance with this requirement.) II. Severity of Need (50 points) — For areas where there are failing septic systems, a map delineating the location of failed septic systems must be submitted. Also, there must be a letter from a registered soil scientist or a registered sanitarian verifying the failed septic systems. (To receive the maximum points in this category more than 20% of the systems must be failing. Less than 10% of the systems failing yield 30 points.) III. System Management (17 points) —The system serving the project area must have a Capital Improvements Plan (updated in the last two years) and and/or an Asset Management Plan that includes the proposed sewer project. The operating ratio should be greater than one. (Uncertain of the existence of these plans and the system's operating ratio.) Additionally, in my professional opinion all other requirements of the grant application can be met with the assistance of OWASA and perhaps GIS for mapping in time for the May 1 application deadline. This allows the opportunity for a public hearing on April 15 after the application is developed no later than April 5th. Nevertheless, the timeframe for application development is very short (one month), thus, direction is needed as soon as possible regarding the County's interest in pursuing this application. Should you wish to proceed, I am willing to work to develop this application for a May 1 submission.