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Tell City board approves emergency signing of port grant and authorizes mayor to sign follow-ups
Summary
The Tell City Board of Public Works and Safety held an emergency session to approve a long-delayed federal grant for a new pier and authorized the mayor to sign follow-up documents so work can start if federal funding is at risk from a government shutdown.
The Tell City Board of Public Works and Safety on Sept. 26 held an emergency meeting to approve a federal grant agreement for a new pier project and to authorize the mayor to sign any follow-up documents that do not obligate additional city funds.
Board members said the grant — awarded about five years ago for what the transcript refers to as the MAD Port/Merad Pier project — is finally ready to be executed. The board moved to approve the grant agreement as a precaution against a possible federal government shutdown that could threaten timely obligation of the funds.
Attorney Jeff said the board "should have the contract in place prior to any government shutdown just out of an abundance of caution so that there's no risk to our funding." Jessica, identified in the transcript as "from Indiana 15," told the board the grant office would prioritize obligating the funds as soon as it received the submission and a final signature, allowing contracting and work to begin.
A board member, Kent, asked whether local matching funds were available. Staff replied those funds are already in the city's checking account and originated from an advance payment of rent from "Tel Boat Works," according to the transcript.
Adam moved to approve the grant agreement "based on attorney review and [because] the funds are there," and Gerald seconded. The motion passed by voice vote.
On a related item, the board discussed and approved a motion to authorize the mayor to sign any additional documents related to the pier project "so long as they don't encumber any additional funds of the city." Board counsel suggested placing a dollar threshold in the delegation language; the board agreed to a straightforward authorization limited to documents that do not obligate city funds.
The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn. The special meeting record contains inconsistent name and project spellings in places (the transcript alternately uses "Tel City" and "Tell City," and refers to the project as "MAD Port," "Merad Pier" and similar variants); the board's actions are summarized here using the city name normalized to Tell City and the core project description as the transcript presents it.
The board did not record roll-call tallies in the transcript; approval passed by voice vote on the motions reported above. No timeline for the project's next steps was specified in the meeting record provided.
