Bay City council ratifies pair of hazard-mitigation grant applications for Nichols Avenue drainage improvements

The Bay City Council approved a resolution authorizing two applications under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for drainage work on Nichols Avenue in the Del Norte subdivision.

Gabriel, a city staff member, told the council the city submitted a project application on March 31 to retrofit storm sewer and curbing along Nichols Avenue from the Encino intersection to the subdivision's south end. He said construction was estimated at about $630,000 and the city applied for roughly $725,000 to cover construction, bidding, engineering, a 5% contingency and allowable grant administration costs.

"We're given more priority on the [hurricane declaration] but it's still good to submit under both funding opportunities," Gabriel said, referring to two federal disaster declarations noted in the staff report. The council ratified the prior March submission and authorized staff to submit the same material under a second declaration. Gabriel told council the city is committing to a 25% local match of $186,372.50; he said that match amount had already been budgeted for drainage work in that subdivision.

Councilmembers asked why the resolution language said the city could provide "up to 25% or more" in local share. Gabriel and other staff replied that the standard template preserves the option to commit a larger local match to increase application competitiveness but that the city's intention was to request only the 25% match; if awarded the grant the exact local share would be certified in the subsequent contract. The council discussed that the drainage district had informally agreed to assist with matching funds and that any firm match commitment would return to council for approval.

The motion to approve the resolution was adopted by the council with no recorded opposition.