East Canton council hires Nana Riggs as grant writer for waterline project, fee capped at $1,200

The Village of East Canton council voted to hire Nana Riggs as the municipality’s official grant writer for a proposed waterline replacement project and approved a contract with a flat fee not to exceed $1,200 for grant writing and submission.

The hire covers writing and submitting a federal congressional direct-spending request the village hopes to use for a phase of its waterline replacement. "I am looking at my fee for that will probably be about $1,200. That's for the writing and submission of it," Nana Riggs said during the council discussion.

Council members discussed whether the fee should be per grant or hourly and agreed on a single flat fee for writing and submission. Riggs told the council that if a grant is awarded there might be a separate fee for post-award administration or paperwork depending on what the grant allows.

Riggs also described outreach and preparatory work already underway: she said she had reviewed past congressional projects and that representatives' offices had invited the village to meet about the request. She told the council she expects the congressional direct‑spending opportunity to be announced around February and March and that, if approved through Congress and signed by the president, village staff would receive further instructions from the implementing agency.

The council moved and seconded a motion to make Riggs the village’s official grant writer for the waterline project and specified the fee "not to exceed $1,200 for grant writing and submission." The motion passed on a council voice/roll-call vote recorded in the minutes.

Riggs asked council members for help collecting support letters and engineering cost estimates to include with the application. She told the council she had prepared example letter templates and a list of local contacts she planned to approach for referral letters.

If the congressional direct‑spending program continues, Riggs said the village will need a project scope and some engineering cost estimates before formal submission. She also noted that matching funds and whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture would administer the award were not yet certain.

Next steps: Riggs and staff will assemble engineering cost estimates and letters of support and prepare the application materials the council authorized the fee to cover. The council declined to set any additional fee or post-award obligations in the motion beyond allowing separate fees later if required.