Council conditionally approves Great Northern Services to pursue CDBG planning grant for Mount Jasper Boulevard

Staff recommended that the city contract with Great Northern Services as a subrecipient to prepare a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) planning application, continuing work begun in a prior application cycle for Mount Jasper Boulevard repaving. Staff said preaward work and grant writing are expected to cost under $6,000; if the application is not awarded the city would be responsible for preaward costs.

Great Northern previously prepared an earlier application that staff said was favorably reviewed but denied because of outstanding audit findings. Staff and the Great Northern representative discussed that the city has some program‑income and reporting items that required completion; the city’s finance staff reported discovering that two prior annual reports had not been previously submitted and that those items were submitted earlier the same day.

Councilmember motioned to conditionally approve Great Northern to prepare and submit the application provided Great Northern confirms the two‑year reporting gap will not materially affect competitiveness; the motion passed by voice vote.

Staff noted the grant cycle timing and advised council that any grant award likely would be reimbursed in a later fiscal year and that the city may need to identify a budget source for preaward work if an award is not made.