Council hears status of water projects and FEMA reimbursements; staff says city will plan for shortfalls

Public Works staff updated the City Council on a series of water-infrastructure projects and federal funding prospects during Thursday's meeting. Deputy Public Works Director and City Engineer Neil Leary said the Scout Property frontage project is federally funded through an OBAG (Caltrans) grant; the city is in design and has approximately $261,000 identified for construction once plans and specs are approved.

The council also revisited the raw-water transmission and waterline reconstruction work tied to prior storm damage. Council members asked about FEMA reimbursement for temporary repairs and the larger reconstruction costs. Councilmember Scott and others noted about $1.2 million already billed to FEMA for temporary-line expenses; staff said FEMA processing can take a year or two and emphasized that construction would not be advertised until funds are in hand. "We are currently planning in the event that we don't get FEMA reimbursement," the public works director said, adding that in that circumstance the city would draw on enterprise reserves and the cost would ultimately be borne by ratepayers unless alternate funding is secured.

Why it mattered: Council members were concerned about contingent liabilities and whether state or federal funding could be rescinded. Staff said they meet every two weeks with the FEMA representative and have no current indication that funding will be pulled, but cautioned that timing can be long. The council asked staff to follow up with Congressman Josh Garamendi's office and to report back on the status of related interjurisdictional reimbursements (for example, a previously deobligated Park Road amount with Fairfield).