$4.5 Million Grant to Be Used For Drainage Aid in LG
The La Grange City Council took a step toward solving some of the City’s drainage problems at their meeting Monday night, Nov. 25.
The Council approved several items related to a $4.5 million federal grant that will be used to address stormwater problems in town. The grant is administered by the Texas General Land Office, and it requires extensive reporting and oversight.
The City previously hired Langford Community Management Services to administer the grant on behalf of the City. Monday night the company presented the Council with a number of policies and procedures that the City needed to adopt to comply with the grant requirements.
Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Jan Dockery, City Manager Jack Thompson, Assistant City Manager Frank Menefee and Finance Director Brett Wolff to sign paperwork related to the grant.
Next, the Council considered financial policies and procedures related to the grant. Councilman Ken Taylor raised several questions about the language Langford presented. He noted that the document assigned certain duties to an “auditor’s office,” but the City does not have an auditor’s office. Elsewhere, the document referred to the City Council adopting a budget by “court order.” But City Attorney Angela Beck said the Council does not adopt budged by court orders, but rather by ordinances.
The Council decided to defer action on adopting the financial policies and procedures until a future meeting. In the meantime, City staff will revise the language. The Council went on to adopt policies and procedures related to procurement and civil rights. The Council also signed a proclamation designating the month of April as Fair Housing Month in La Grange. Thompson said the proclamation was a requirement for the grant.
Later in the meeting, the Council approved an amendment to the engineering services contract for the grant. BEFCO Engineering will serve as the project engineer. The amendment specified payment terms. BEFCO’s engineering fee was $543,459, which will be paid in installments over the course of the project, which is expected to take two years. The grant will cover the cost of the engineering fee.
The Council also approved a contract amendment specifying the fee to Langford for grant administration services. Langford’s fee is $364,480, and it, too, will come out of the grant funds. That leaves a little over $3.5 million for actual construction.
In other business, Council scheduled a special workshop meeting on Dec. 17 to discuss branding for the City of La Grange. Thompson said he wants to gather input from the Council about how the City represents its identity.