Columbia council approves reorganization of two-part RACP grant to speed reimbursement

Columbia Borough Council on May 27 approved a reorganization of its two-part RACP grant package intended to secure immediate reimbursement for Phase 1 work and move additional funds into Phase 2.

A staff member explained at the meeting that documentation issues and the way Phase 1 was assembled—many small projects under one large package—slowed state reimbursement. The staff member said reducing Phase 1’s requested amount to $1,000,000 would allow existing, already-documented work to be paid quickly, while roughly $300,000 would roll into Phase 2 so the borough would not lose any grant funding.

The staff member told the council that “If we do not do RACP phase 2, we do not get paid for RACP phase 1,” describing the grant as effectively one program split into two parts and noting the state would not disburse Phase 1 funds independently under the original arrangement. The reorganization shifts more of the grant to a single larger Phase 2 project—expected to be a new public works facility—rather than a group of smaller downtown projects.

Council members and staff stressed the aim was to simplify reimbursement and avoid the repeated documentation problems that delayed payment. The staff member said the borough’s paperwork for the reduced Phase 1 is ready to submit and that approving the change would let the borough request the check promptly.

Council person Kaufman moved to approve the reorganization; Council person Stahl seconded the motion. The motion passed with all voting in favor.

Council members noted lessons learned from Phase 1 and discussed contracting approaches to reduce future administrative burdens, including using a general contractor and grouping related work under single contracts to avoid prevailing-wage complications for many small jobs. Council members also requested that money rolled into Phase 2 still be directed toward some downtown economic-development priorities originally envisioned for the RACP package.

The borough’s consultant CS Davidson was singled out by council members for helping assemble and clean up grant documentation and for expediting the revised submission.

With the reorganization approved, staff said the borough expects to receive reimbursement for completed Phase 1 work more quickly and to proceed with a larger, consolidated Phase 2 project that the council and staff say will be administratively simpler to document and draw against.

Questions remain about the exact timetable for state reimbursement and whether Phase 2 will move faster; staff said the documentation is in hand and they will submit as soon as council action is final.