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EDC hears phased plan to build civic center with emergency shelter, seeks smaller grants and local matches
Summary
A consultant presented a phased plan to build a civic center with a retrofitted emergency shelter on a city-owned lot by the library, and recommended pursuing smaller, fundable grants (T-Mobile, USDA, SBA, foundations) rather than a single large federal award.
At its regular meeting, the Lago Vista Economic Development Corporation reviewed a consultants proposal to develop a phased civic center and emergency shelter on a city-owned parcel adjacent to the library. Consultant Britney told the board the team has prepared renderings, initial budgets and grant applications and recommended breaking the project into smaller phases to improve chances for funding.
Britney said, "So just from the month of March, we had 2 applications ran up for submission and 2 that were actually completed," and explained the EDA federal opportunities would have required local match funds the city did not have. She said the work plan now emphasizes multiple smaller grants and local sponsorships to build toward the larger civic-center goal.
The plan identifies the larger parcel near the library for an anchor civic center and a smaller adjacent green-space phase that could qualify for community-focused grants such as the $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown grant. Britney also described fundraising tactics including a naming/sponsorship campaign and partnerships with local businesses to cover planning and construction match requirements.
Board members asked about procurement and next steps. City staff said an RFQ process is already in place for architecture and master-planning services, which can be used to issue task orders for planning-level cost estimates. Britney noted administrative prerequisites for applying to federal programs: obtaining an employer identification number and registering a sam.gov account so the EDC or 501(c)(6) entity could accept federal funds.
Don, a board member, praised the concept and its funding logic, saying the combined civic-center/shelter approach "opened up funds that we neverwould have any hope of getting, which actually makes the Civic Center a real possibility."
The board directed staff and the consultant to continue developing the phased grant strategy, to share slide materials with members and to return cost estimates and a recommended short list of grant applications at a future meeting.
