Oxnard City seeks $1.09 million EPA grant to replace aging cast-iron water pipes in Kamala Park

Oxnard City staff asked the Oxnard City Council to authorize submission of a $1,092,000 grant application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Kamala Park neighborhood cast iron pipe replacement capital improvement project, Grants Coordinator Eric Hammel said at the meeting.

Hammel, grants coordinator with the public works department, told the council the recommendation is that the council authorize the city manager or designee to submit the EPA application and to execute all documents, agreements and amendments necessary to secure and implement the grant. "The recommendation is that the city council authorize the city manager or designee to submit a grant application to the US EPA for $1,092,000 with a 20% local match for community project funding for the Kamala Park neighborhood cast iron pipe replacement capital improvement project," he said.

The project is identified in the city's capital improvement program as project C2228. Hammel said cast iron water lines in Oxnard City "are typically over 50 years old, in poor physical condition, and beyond their service life," and that the funding would pay for replacement of aging pipes at risk of failure.

Hammel said grant proceeds could cover design and/or construction costs and requested that the council authorize the finance director or designee to submit financial reports and grant claims, approve budget appropriations, and authorize the public works director or designee to submit nonfinancial reports. He said a new appropriation of $1,092,000 in the federal grant fund 200 would be required to record the revenue and expenditures for an award, and that the anticipated 20% cost share would be covered by existing appropriations, such as the Water Capital Fund 602, as programmed in the city's CIP.

Hammel noted that recent community project funding practice has allowed mid-level cost-share waiver requests by disadvantaged communities, but added that "at the time of report writing, it is not known if the program will include a cost share waiver option or what the criteria will be." He closed by asking the council to direct any questions to staff; the transcript does not record a council vote or motion on the recommendation.

The council presentation linked the request to the House Appropriations Committee’s 2025 announcement that it would accept community project funding requests for fiscal 2026 and noted that the Kamala Park project had been submitted for consideration.