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Council hires municipal adviser to pursue wastewater loan forgiveness; March 14 application deadline cited
Summary
The council approved engaging Baker Group LP to pursue CWSRF (loan/loan-forgiveness) funding for sewer-plant projects and planning; advisers said fees are contingent on securing funds and that Veneta’s tier and a consent order increase scoring under the program.
The Veneta City Council voted Feb. 20 to engage the Baker Group LP to pursue funding and potential loan forgiveness through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for wastewater projects, a consultant told the council.
A Baker Group representative told the council the city faced a tight timetable to be eligible for certain construction loan/forgiveness rounds; the firm proposed submitting applications for two projects and, if necessary, a planning-and-design application as a fallback. The representative outlined a potential application package that would seek roughly $689,000 if both projects were eligible, about $503,000 for a single project that is further along with the state environmental review, or a planning-and-design request of about $54,200 if construction documents and DEQ approvals are not yet complete.
"If he gets us money, he gets paid. If he doesn't get us money, he don't get paid," the Baker Group representative said, summarizing the contingency fee arrangement discussed with the council. The representative said the firm typically charges about 1.5% of the project if successful, with a stated minimum that had been discussed in draft language; staff later confirmed the contract language was revised so the city would not owe fees if funds were not obtained.
The consultant explained how the CWSRF ranking is point-based: lower-affluence communities are placed in higher tiers for scoring; having a consent order and readiness-to-proceed documentation can add substantial points. The representative said Veneta's tiering and an existing notice-of-violation/consent-order documentation make the city competitive, but final approval depends on engineering and environmental clearances from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Council members and staff discussed that DEQ's approvals and outstanding engineering reports would determine whether a full construction request could be filed before the March 14 deadline.
City staff said much of the routine documentation is already on file with the state because the city is an existing borrower and submits monthly financial statements. The council voted to approve the municipal-adviser agreement; staff said one contract document would need signatures and notarization to meet timing requirements.
The motion carries with authorization for the city administrator and staff to provide required documents to the municipality’s chosen adviser and to move forward on applications that staff and the engineer can support before the stated deadline.
