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Boulder council weighs using sewer funds to finish wastewater engineering report as grant timing lags
Summary
City Engineer Elly Goebel told the council the city has $40,000 from a Renewable Resources Grant for a wastewater preliminary engineering report but faces a roughly $30,000 shortfall if a separate MCEP award is delayed; council will decide in January whether to commit sewer-fund dollars to finish the PER.
City Engineer Elly Goebel told the City Council the State Renewable Resources Grant (RRG) awarded the city $40,000 for a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) for wastewater treatment plant upgrades but that the PER will require roughly $30,000 more to complete if a separate Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP) grant is not awarded in time.
"The PER needs to be completed before May of 2026 for the city to be eligible for the subsequent RRG and MCEP grant cycles," Goebel said, explaining the timing pressure on contracting and grant eligibility. Goebel said the city has already committed $8,700 as a local match toward the PER and that grant administrator Lori Benner has applied to MCEP but that award timing will not meet the contractor's start window.
Goebel asked the council to consider authorizing up to $30,000 from the sewer enterprise fund as a contingency if the MCEP award is delayed; the council agreed to revisit and make a final decision at its January meeting. No formal motion to appropriate sewer funds was made at the Dec. 15 meeting.
Why it matters: completing the PER on the stated schedule is a prerequisite for pursuing next-stage grant and project funding for wastewater plant upgrades. Delaying the PER risks the city missing a grant cycle; committing reserve sewer funds would reduce that timing risk but would allocate local dollars before new grant outcomes are known.
