Commission approves amendment reallocating GOB funds; Shenley Park sewer allocation reduced to $27.5 million and to be funded via future financing

The committee approved an amendment to reallocate Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond (GOB) funds and to require future financing for the Shenley Park sewer expansion project.

Commissioner Cabrera moved the amendment to revise funding allocations for GOB Project Number 17, reducing the GOB allocation to the Shenley Park Sewer Expansion System project from $45,000,000 to $27,500,000 and revising the sewer-expansion allocation for industrial and commercial corridors to $98,500,000. The amendment directed the mayor or the mayor's designate to include the Shenley Park Sewer Expansion System project in a future financing backed by appropriate covenants and to include $27,500,000 in the 2025 debt issuance or the next issuance undertaken. The amendment also stated the project is estimated to cost no less than $55,000,000 and made conforming changes to the resolution's title and text.

The amendment was seconded by Commissioner Cohen Higgins and approved by voice vote. After the vote commissioners discussed the need to avoid losing match grant dollars in other projects; Roy Colley, chief utilities and regulatory services officer, explained that a $27.5 million state/federal grant for Shenley Park had a short spending window and the administration moved to preserve the funding by using a shovel-ready GOB project in place while Shenley Park advanced design. Colley said the department thought it could not spend the grant within the grantor's time frame and negotiated with the granting agency to shift the money temporarily.

Commissioners asked departmental staff to ensure future budget and project-priority processes avoid similar reassignments unless necessary to preserve grant funds. The amendment passed by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.