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Tracy council approves $420,000 task order to pursue grants and infrastructure studies
Summary
The Tracy City Council voted to approve a $420,000 task order with its engineering team to prepare studies and funding applications for streets, utilities and building needs, aiming to capture state and federal grants available this funding cycle.
The Tracy City Council on Sept. 9 approved a $420,000 task order with BAG Engineering to prepare preliminary engineering reports and pursue multiple grants to address streets, utilities and municipal building needs.
Consultants and staff framed the task order as a coordinated funding strategy designed to make the city competitive for several near-term opportunities, including the Small Cities Development Program, a new MPCA wastewater-resiliency grant (deadline Sept. 25) and the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure program. "These data and analyses feed directly into the work we do to get you money," consultant Laura said, explaining the task order’s mix of utility investigations, pavement-management work and building assessments.
Council debate focused on scope and timing: several members urged prioritizing the utility and street studies that feed grant applications, while others argued for including a buildings assessment so the city can plan for repairs or a future facility. Finance staff and consultants said some of the work would draw on available fund balances (notably water-fund dollars previously set aside) and that successful grant awards would offset most construction costs. Council discussed phasing options and the need to certify levy and budget timing to support any required local matches.
A motion to approve the task order passed in a roll-call vote after discussion; Council members recorded as voting were read at the meeting and the motion carried with one recorded dissent. The task order authorizes staff to begin the field investigations and grant applications immediately so consultant teams can meet the short windows for several state and federal funding programs. The council directed staff to return any narrower or re-scoped task order language to a future meeting if members want to limit building-related work.
Next steps: staff will execute the task order, begin the investigations and proceed with the MPCA and Small Cities applications; Council scheduled further levy and budget discussion for Sept. 23 to align local finance decisions with the grant strategy.
