Faced with a bigger local price tag than they asked for, the Bethel City Council rejected a federal grant to bring piped water and sewer lines to the Avenues neighborhood by a tie vote, with one council member absent.
The grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Administration, would have paid a third of the project's cost. The city would have pursued a loan for the rest. City Manager Peter Williams explained that when the council applied for the grant, the terms were different; closer to an even split.
“Council approved alternate three last time, and we forwarded it to the national office when they returned the grant. When it left here it was 55 percent to the city, costs were 55 percent to the city, and 45 percent was gonna be a grant. When it came back from the national office it’s 67 percent to the city and 33 percent is a grant,” said the city manager.
The council was urged to accept the revised terms by Bob White with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, who has been working on sewer and water projects for villages for years. White said that the funding for water and sewer projects has gone from hard to find to nearly impossible.
“The days of getting a fully funded project by a grant are kind of gone. I’ve seen that coming. I’ve seen that, like, right now, lots of projects that are on hold for little amounts of money that just can’t be closed,” White said. “So I would just urge you, this is an opportunity to move forward piping water and sewer in Bethel.”
White said that other subdivisions that are farther from the city center would only become tougher to reach without piping the easier neighborhoods first. The Avenues stretch from Third to Seventh Avenue, including Ridgecrest Drive and Main Street, and contain 112 homes and several commercial-zoned locations.
With council member Fritz Charles out sick, the vote was split evenly, and the resolution to accept the grant failed. Council members Mitchell Forbes, Leif Albertson, and Perry Barr voted in favor, with Carole Jung Jordan, Mayor Watson, and Vice Mayor Raymond “Thor” Williams voting against.
Opponents pointed to competing priorities for the city Enterprise Fund, such as the Alaska State Housing Authority neighborhood, commonly referred to as Housing, where, due to aged pipes, conditions continue to deteriorate.
“That takes away funds that we have now for possibly setting aside for that loop replacement or to even begin it,” Mayor Watson said.
Vice Mayor Williams agreed, and added that the city ought to focus on projects that would bring piped services to Tundra Ridge, Blueberry, Larson, or Kasayuli subdivisions. City Manager Williams contended that redirecting the funds needed to see those piping projects through to those subdivisions wouldn’t be affordable for the city in the foreseeable future, and urged the council to take advantage of the opportunity before them to pipe the Avenues.
That doesn’t mean that it's the end for the Avenues project. Should anyone who voted no or was absent request a reconsideration, another vote call could be held for the resolution. A new resolution could also be considered by council related to the Avenues project, provided it offered a different option from the what was proposed in Resolution 18-18.
A vote on adding six new water trucks is likely at the next council meeting.