Council approves FEMA‑funded backup generators contract despite higher-than-expected bid

Medical Lake — The City Council on Sept. 2 approved awarding a contract to purchase backup generators for key municipal facilities after staff recommended the lowest responsive bid for a FEMA hazard‑mitigation grant project. Staff presented the bid results and the grant funding breakdown: the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program will fund 75 percent of the project, the state will provide 12.5 percent, and the city’s share is the remaining 12.5 percent. Staff said the federal portion is approximately $599,000, the state portion roughly $99,000, and the city's current share is an estimated $230,000 above what was originally budgeted, due to price increases since the grant award. The generators will be installed at multiple locations, including two wells (Lehi Road well and Craig Road well), the wastewater treatment plant (to replace an end‑of‑life generator), City Hall and the maintenance facility. Staff stressed the public‑safety and continuity benefits: with increased instances of planned power shutoffs and other disruptions, backup power enables wells and wastewater treatment to continue operating and allows City Hall to serve residents during outages. The council moved and approved the contract award to the lowest responsive bidder identified in the packet (bidder name provided in staff recommendation). Council discussion noted the city will split costs among capital improvement, water and wastewater funds in line with each facility’s ownership and that sufficient funds are available in those accounts. Staff said they would pursue state capital requests as a next step to offset the city's unbudgeted additional cost created by inflation since the grant award. The council approved the motion unanimously during the meeting. Staff did not provide a firm run‑time estimate for full tanks during the meeting but said that generator capacities vary by site and that specifications and bid documents include required capacities; staff offered to follow up with ballpark run‑time figures for well and wastewater generators. The city will proceed with contract execution and coordinate project scheduling with the vendor and grant administrators.