Celina leaders are moving to secure over $800,000 in American Rescue Plan grant reimbursements by finalizing an amended contract with a project vendor to satisfy state requirements.
Grant Administrator Alexis Patterson said the amended contract serves as an alternative to the vendor fulfilling a specific requirement to get approved as a vendor on the projects.
“Our current goal is obviously to get Celina reimbursed,” Patterson said. “We’ve got all the procurements as far as we can done, and I’ve listed out here kind of our executive summary, our updates, and all those good things. So the first and biggest issue that we’re having right now is getting the city reimbursed for the payment for the services KWS has provided.”
Patterson said the city has already met its required match for the grant and needs to submit the documentation into the ARP portal to trigger the reimbursement request.
Mayor Luke Collins said the vendor is expected to sign the amended agreement within the next few days to resolve issues regarding vendor approval and procurement.
“I am told that they’re going to look it over and expect to sign it tomorrow or day after tomorrow,” Collins said.
City Attorney William Birdwell said the proposed contract includes language for a performance bond as required by the original grant terms but noted the requirement might be waived if the state approves the current progress.
“We couldn’t take it out of the proposed contract because we’re writing a contract that should have happened back in October,” Birdwell said. “I do expect that what Alexis is saying may be honored and it may be waived.”
Water Plant Manager Clifton Boles said the water system is currently functioning but requires a $10,000 repair for a 35-year-old main pump that recently burned out.
“We have three main pumps that pump water to the system, one of them is down,” Boles said. “You know, that causes me to worry a little bit, if another one goes down, I lose sleep.”
Collins said the city is also facing a potential 30 percent water rate increase in the next budget to ensure the utility remains operational and compliant with state recommendations.
“If it was to happen to be a tie vote, and I had to vote on it, I would vote yes because I mean, the water has to keep flowing, you know, that’s what people want,” Collins said. “And you know, it’s going to be to me, I water livestock and irrigate crops, it’s going to be an extra $100 a month for me, and I probably won’t have a vote on it, but in all honesty, if I did have a vote, we don’t have any choice.”
Collins said the board will meet again next Tuesday to pass a resolution for a continuing budget while waiting for reconciled expenditure numbers.
