By T. Scott Boatright
Continuing work to upgrade the city’s roadways and water systems was the primary focus as Grambling’s City Council held its July meeting Thursday evening.
In a pair of moves, Grambling’s City Council passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Alvin Bradley to sign all contracts and pay requests for the “Water Distribution System Replacement, Planning and Construction Project” through the Louisiana Capital Outlay Program while also granting permission for Bradley to sign Change Order No. 2 for the “Roadway Reconstruction Project for Central Avenue Phase II Project.”
That second move reversed Change Order No. 1 for the “Roadway Reconstruction Project for Central Avenue Phase II Project” approved last month by the City Council.
Last month Grambling’s City Council approved a $411,444.75 bid from Amethyst Construction for Phase II of the College Avenue renovation project, and because of bureaucratic protocol, then immediately voted to adopt a change order to redefined the financial amount of work to fit the $250,000 already awarded for the project, a move that should then allow work to begin.
During last month’s meeting Henry Shuler, of Shuler Consulting, who serves as a consulting engineer for the city, said that while originally the city seemingly was set to receive $400,000 in state funds for the project, because Grambling State’s sewer system is involved and GSU was set to receive $150,000 for the part of the project running through its campus, that meant that the financial numbers needed to be adjusted but that the project will eventually be finished.
But during Thursday’s meeting, Schuler told the Council that a month later, funding for the entire project was now in place and that Change Order No. 2 for the project was now necessary.
“Last meeting we authorized the award and then the concurrent Change Order No. 1 for Amethyst Construction to rebuild a portion of what’s left (needed to be done) on Central Avenue,” Schuler said during Thursday’s meeting. “The good news is that GSU just got another batch of grant money that we have been told is going to be allocated to that project.
“So, what we just did last meeting, we’re undoing this meeting, because now we do have the money in place to do all of it.”
As far as the Water Distribution Project through the Capital Outlay Program, Schuler said it is all about moving up on the Legislative Priority list.
“This gets a little complicated,” Schuler said. “You already have roughly $600,000 and another $300,000 that can be used to work on the Community Center and City Hall. What else you’ve got is just one step below the money being real. They have three priorities in Capital Outlay — Priority 1, Priority 2 and Priority 5.
“Priority 1 means its real cash and you can draw it. Priority 2 means they’ve committed to it, but they have to sell bonds, so it’s good but not cash. Priorities 4 and 5 mean you should move up the next legislative session. So, you are on their radar, which means they could move you straight from Priority 5 straight to P2 or even P1 if the cash is available.”
For clarity, Priorities 3 and 4 are the lowest categories of actual Capital Outlay funding and only considered for funding after P1 and P2 and are rarely funded.
But that makes continuing the push for more Capital Outlay funding even more important.
“Right now, the Bond Commission is considering a $2 million Priority 5 line of credit to the city to continue to expand the sewer system back toward Ruston,” Schuler said. “That’s a project I’ve been working on I think as long as I’ve been here.
“The other is another $1 million that would supplement the $600,000 you already have in cash. We’ve already talked about water meters being a priority, but the $600,000 isn’t enough to replace every meter within the city’s water system. But with this other $1 million coming, we should be able to do that. So, you’re not seeing it all at once, but you are making progress.”
When Grambling Mayor Alvin Bradley asked what “work” needed to be done before next year’s state legislative session to try and secure the needed funding, Schuler had a two-word answer.
“Be persistent,” Schuler said. “Be persistent with your legislators because they are the ones that have that control to move that money from the point where you’re on the radar to being real. Priority 5 is now a bad thing, but it’s not as good as we need it to be. Staying in contact with your legislators is the key to it.”
