The Salida City Council meets in regular session at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1. The majority of the agenda items concern annexation, zoning, and other matters previously heard. These are now moving through the process to Final Reading and Public Hearing; however, two new items have a potential future impact on the public at large.
Image courtesy of the City of Salida.
Within the consent agenda, Salida Public Works seeks approval to authorize a grant application to help narrow a funding gap for the Pasquale Springs WTP Improvements Project. While already a budgeted, big-ticket expense, facility construction costs have escalated significantly over the past year due to material costs and high demand for such projects.
Staff is currently working with the engineering firm on the project to identify if value engineering components are possible in order to reduce project costs. Staff also proposes that a grant application be submitted for a $750,000 Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Energy and Mineral Impact Fund Grant (EIAF)* to help support funding for the project.
If successful, the City would provide a fiscal match of half ($375,000) with the balance coming from the EIAF. Improvements to the Pasquale Springs plant will provide additional capacity and redundancy important to the future of city residents.
Open Door. Image courtesy Jan Tinneberg and Unpslash.com
The final agenda item is a new Resolution 2022-10, to appropriate funding to the Chaffee Housing Authority to fund incentive payments for the Open Doors program. Ark Valley Voice presented background on this before it was last introduced to Council on Feb. 15. The program will offer incentives to owners of short-term rental (STR) units, vacation homes, and other “vacant” units that are interested in converting into a long-term workforce unit.
If Council accepts the funding proposal, up to $140,000 will be set aside for host incentives for up to 10 homes. A separate requests asks for $100,000 upfront, to cover master lease obligations. If this pilot program is fully deployed, up to 22 local workforce individuals maybe housed in 10 units.
The meeting will be held virtually. Those wishing to access the meeting should follow these links:
To register for this Regular City Council Meeting: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6382995264411204366
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
To watch live meetings: https://c.streamhoster.com/embed/media/W6sdC9/xAIlQfSsmmO/vpfQhcsApYv_5?preview=1
*Editor Note: The purpose of the EIAF Program is to assist political subdivisions that are socially and/or economically impacted by the development, processing, or energy conversion of minerals and mineral fuels. Funds come from the state severance tax on energy and mineral production and from a portion of the state’s share of royalties paid to the federal government for mining and drilling of minerals and mineral fuels on federally-owned land. DOLA-administered grants like this are a valuable source of funding for major City projects.
Featured image: A typical water treatment facility. Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
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