Fiscal committee approves grants, zoning and watershed contracts; authorizes water and sewer bond refundings

The Grand Rapids fiscal committee on Oct. 21 approved multiple fiscal items including grant continuations, professional services contracts and revenue refunding bond ordinances for city utilities.

The committee accepted a continuation grant from the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning for $18,886.91 to support traffic-safety enforcement (speeding, DUI, seat-belt enforcement); staff noted the award represented roughly a 50% reduction from recent years because the state allocation predated the state budget deal. “The amount allocated this year was done before the state's budget deal. So it's about half of what we would normally receive,” a grant manager said.

The committee approved an agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation for a congestion-mitigation and air-quality (CMAQ) grant to support the traffic management operation center with a project total of $690,000, and approved a three-year professional-services contract with Grand Valley Metro Council (Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds) for watershed and stormwater management services at $36,291.70 annually (not to exceed $108,875.10 total).

Planning staff presented and the committee approved a contract with Codometrics Inc. for a zoning-ordinance update not to exceed $352,000; staff said the update will implement the recently adopted community master plan and includes community engagement capacity.

The committee passed two series ordinances authorizing the issuance of revenue refunding bonds for the sanitary sewer and water supply systems. Finance staff said the sewer refunding is expected to produce approximately $6.7 million in net present value savings (about 19% of the bonds' par value), and that a voluntary tender offer on a 2021 sewer series could yield additional savings depending on participation. The water refunding combines three prior series and is expected to save roughly $5.5 million (about 11.8% of par).

The committee also approved a budget amendment (Amendment No. 3) that included grant receipts, vehicle and equipment purchases, capital projects (including a $3 million primary circuit extension for an electric line) and budget carry-forwards for contractual obligations. The comptroller presented warrant, small-claims and travel reports; the treasurer briefed the committee on investments and the city’s online payments platform, GRPayit, reporting the system is projected to collect about $170 million electronically this fiscal year and has processed roughly 4.1 million payments since launch.

All listed resolutions and ordinances were moved, supported and carried on voice votes.

The fiscal committee adjourned at 8:50 a.m.