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Jal secures $4.5 million to build EMS station; tank rehab and wastewater funding updates
Summary
City officials said multiple grants and capital outlay allocations will fully fund a new EMS station—$4.5 million in all—while the council also noted preauthorization for a tank-rehab grant and an extension with added funding for wastewater disposal after bids came in high.
The City Manager reported that the City of Jal has obtained $4.5 million in combined funding to build a new emergency medical services station.
"We did receive a grant from the governor's emergency funding for our EMS station of $1.5 million," the City Manager said, and added the city has $1.1 million from 2023 capital outlay, $1.0 million from 2024 capital outlay and $900,000 from another source — "that's a total of $4.5 million and that was our estimated cost for that building. We are fully funding and working on that project as we speak." The council voted 4-0 to accept the City Manager's report.
Mayor Aldridge also described recent outreach on water and energy issues ahead of the state legislative session, saying he and staff met with the city's lobbyist and attended an energy summit in Carlsbad. "It's a 60-day going to be loud and noisy, a lot of water talk, probably more on oil and gas," the mayor said, and noted industry concerns about takeaway capacity raised by Devon and pipeline work by Kinder Morgan.
Council discussion and the City Manager's report also identified two related infrastructure items: preauthorization resolutions for a tank‑rehabilitation grant, and a time extension plus increased grant and loan funding for the wastewater disposal project after bids were higher than anticipated. The City Manager said staff are proceeding with the EMS project and working through procurement and next steps for the wastewater work.
The council approved the meeting agenda and minutes earlier in the evening, then recessed to the Planning & Zoning Commission to consider local land‑use requests. The council reconvened as the city council at 6:40 p.m.
Next steps noted in the meeting record include moving forward with project procurement for the EMS station and handling the tank‑rehab authorizations as resolutions in a subsequent administrative or consent process.
