Council OKs policy to better manage grant awards

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, even when grant monies are in hand.

Town officials last week addressed the hidden and incidental costs linked to grant funding by adopting a new policy designed to assess which awards are most feasible to pursue and cost effective to administer.

“Grants take an awful lot of time to apply for and to maintain when we get them,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas said.

He told the town council at its May 28 meeting that he wants to develop a policy to determine which potential grant awards best fit La Conner’s needs, budget and staff availability.

Future grant funding in some form will be needed as the town faces mandatory upgrades to its wastewater treatment plant and replacement of an aging Skagit Beach water line.

“The idea is to determine what basket to put our marbles into,” Thomas said. “This will set out factors to study when deciding whether to go out for a grant.”

Councilor MaryLee Chamberlain echoed that sentiment.

“I think it’s difficult sometimes when applying for a grant to know the amount of time that will be involved,” she said. “It can be difficult to determine the management of it.”

Thomas said some grant proposals pop up “out of left field,” often the result of state legislation. Those can require hasty decision-making for smaller communities with limited resources like La Conner.

The town’s new policy is designed to assist in that decision-making process and assure time is spent seeking grants whose required local matches are affordable and work best for La Conner’s specific situations.

“We’re going to need to keep the grant door open,” Chamberlain said.

Public Works Director Brian Lease noted that transportation-related grants often have very short application deadlines.

“A lot of them are short notice, a maximum of two weeks to get things together,” he said.

Council member Rick Dole termed approval of the policy important “baby steps” going forward.

“It’s a good idea to have this in place,” Dole said.

Coincidentally, council members at the May 28 meeting discussed a backup plan if the town’s current application for grant funds to solarize the La Conner fire station fizzles. They ultimately reached a consensus – with Ivan Carlson dissenting – to apply for another grant that would require a $40,000 match by the town.

“Forty thousand dollars is a lot of money,” said Carlson. “If we put solar panels on all our buildings it wouldn’t have much of an impact on climate change. I’d like to see us spend the money on something having more impact.”

Chamberlain and council member Mary Wohleb took different views. Chamberlain pointed to future energy cost savings to be realized from solarization. Wohleb reminded the audience that solarizing the fire station would enable it to be used as a command center in case of an emergency or natural disaster here.

“It’s an investment in the town,” Wohleb said.

Mayor Marna Hanneman expressed hope that the current grant application will be approved, making moot the prospect of applying for back-up funding support.

The council also wrestled with the issue of delivery trucks clipping low-hanging utility wires in town. Longtime resident Linda Talman, whose internet service had been knocked out the week before the meeting, asked the council to seek a solution to the problem.

“We don’t need these trucks going into the neighborhoods,” she said. “I can see other ways it can happen.”

It is grocery and auto parts trucks that were said to be hitting the overhead lines.

Lease said some utility lines in La Conner are no longer in service and over time have sagged lower across the town’s streets.

“My experience is that with all the mergers and buyouts over the past 15 years, some of these companies have not kept up with preventative maintenance with their old lines and infrastructure,” Lease said.

Hanneman assured Talman that the town will reach out to all parties – Pioneer Market, NAPA Auto Parts, trucking firms and communications companies – in an attempt to resolve the matter.