Leaders turn to town funds to pay for sewer repairs

Hope town leaders have chosen to repair a collapsing storm sewer on the south side of the Town Square, but without the help of state grants or loans. 

Last month, the town was turned down for a state grant that would have funded $608,000 in repairs to the storm sewer stretching from State Road 9 to the Community Center of Hope along Washington Street. The collapsing sewer line which is estimated to be 90-100 years old is causing sink holes along the parking places on the south side of the square. 

The Town Council elected last week to complete a smaller project, at an estimated cost of about $320,000. But all of that money would be coming from town funds. Clerk-Treasurer Diane Burton and Utilities Manager David Clouse outlined a plan that would draw down the town's storm water repair fund as the main source, taking about $230,000 from that account. Other funds that would be tapped include the community capital development account, and the economic development income taxes fund. The town would also use money set aside to pay the town's share of the failed grant application and funds left over from a previous project. 

Consultants for the town said that the town was far from competitive in the grant application. Based on the scoring formula, the town would have needed a score in the mid 400s, but Hope's application came in at about 346. Eric Frey, with Administrative Resources Association, said that the biggest hit on the storm sewer project proposal was the lack of public input. Projects that show more direct public effects and more public input, receive higher scores, Frey said. With the lowscore, the town doesn't even reach the level to be considered for the grant. 

While the town could have applied for the grant again, the score would be unlikely to improve enough even to make it to the consideration level, Frey said. Even if the town were to apply again for the second half of the project stretching from the community center to the square, the score would be even lower because of the smaller segment of affected community members. 

Further complicating a second application, the town would have to pay for another income study, showing that residents' income across the community is low enough to merit the state funds. Frey said that meant that the survey would have to show that  51 percent of the community is of moderate or lower income level. And the cost to fund the study, estimated at $4,000 to $5,000 would have to be paid by the town. 

Town leaders were also looking at pressure on the storm sewer decision from another source -- an upcoming street paving project being paid for mostly by state grants. If the town leaders had put off the storm sewer work, it would have delayed the paving on the south side of the square and endangered the state funding. Steve Robertson, with Strand Associates, said that informally the state policy is that if a community does not complete the work under the grant, it is going to be considered unfavorably for any future grants. The only alternative would have been to pay for the paving in the area twice -- once under the state grant program, then tearing up the street for the sewer project, and repaving after that was finished.

By agreeing to do the storm sewer project without state funding, the project can start soon enough to allow the final paving to be completed under the state grant, Robertson said.

Town Council voted unanimously to approve the funding plan and to contract with Strand Associates as the engineer for the project.