Agenda - 09-06-1994-IX-C - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 At the August 23rd meeting of the BOCC, staff updated the Commissioners on the new and extended grant funding opportunities for the Piney Mountain project. Staff advised the BOCC that the Piney Mountain home owners were seeking an extension of the County's commitment to meet grant requirements involving system ownership and involvement in the construction process. Commissioners were also apprised that DEM staff have indicated: 1) the Piney Mountain project will retain its eligibility for , grant funded reimbursement until March 1995 when the next grant application cycle begins; and 2) funding eligibility for any project is retained even when construction is begun without grant approval if the project is ultimately approved for funding by the EMC and if all grant requirements are met. DEM staff have also informed County staff that, regardless of the EMC's actions related to developing a new application process and evaluation criteria, the County need not expend any additional effort to submit a new grant application. The County's March application can serve to meet the September 30th application deadline. At its August 23rd meeting, the BOCC indicated its willingness to extend the County's commitment to seek grant funding under one condition; the County must be able to identify and minimize any potential liability accruing from its role in the ownership and construction of the new Piney Mountain system. County staff have determined that the County's potential exposure to liabilities associated with the Piney Mountain project lies in two areas: a) funding construction costs without certainty of grant funding; and b) owning any portion of the existing waste treatment system, including the individual step systems. To address these potential exposures, the County Attorney has revised the existing Piney Mountain agreements referenced above (see attached Documents #3, #4 and #5) . The revised agreements require that: 1) the home owners deposit with the County all funding necessary for system construction regardless of the grant application outcome and prior to award of a construction contract; and 2) the County's participation in the project is to be limited to ownership and construction of the new central pumping station and force main. All mention of County responsibility for owning, constructing, operating or managing the individual step systems and the collection system has been deleted. County staff do still have serious reservations about the reliability of the existing collection and step systems. To address these concerns, the County Attorney has inserted conditions within the agreements to require that the home owners repair or replace the existing step and collection systems as necessary to meet standards that are mutually acceptable to the County and to OWASA.