The City of Aberdeen is applying for a $1 million loan for the repair of Basich Boulvard, but will not stop seeking grant and other funding elsewhere.
“We have not given up on the attempt to get grant funding,” said Aberdeen City Council President Dee Anne Shaw. “But we have to keep proceeding (with the repair) so now we’re proceeding on parallel paths.”
At Wednesday’s council meeting, Public Works Committee chairman Tim Alstrom said the loan “is an option we’re pursuing and need to get going on” to fix the roadway, closed since late December after a series of storms undermined and eventually washed out the critical route to the hospital.
The city will apply for the loan funds with the state Public Works Board, according to a committee report, which read in part, “The initial rough construction cost estimate is $500,000-$750,000 plus approximately $120,000 in engineering and consultant fees. To account for contingencies and unknowns, the Public works Director and City Engineer recommend applying for $1 million in loan funds.”
The terms of the loan are determined based on the city’s loan application, read the report.
Alstrom commended Public Works staff, Mayor Pete Schave and Shaw’s efforts to track down grant money for the repair, talking about a letter Shaw had drafted to Congressman Derek Kilmer about the need for assistance, which “is really shaking the tree looking for grant money, and it remains to be seen if any fruit will hit the ground, but we do want to move ahead. The hope is that the work gets done this year. There’s a lot of prep work and it depends on how the bids go, and it’s got to get done before the rainy season next fall. We’re not putting out a date yet (for construction) but it is being worked on hard and this loan is an option or route we may need in order to get this project accomplished.”
Before the vote, Ward 2 Councilman Nathan Kennedy said, “I’m usually very cautious about borrowing money, but after the discussion in the committee this is just one avenue that is being sought after to get funding for the project, and it’s important to move this project forward.”
“The timing is now to put in for this loan, but if we are awarded the loan we are not committed to have to follow through with it should some other funding funding come in,” said Schave. “But we are obligated to get the application in now.”
The council unanimously approved the recommendation.
Shaw said the city had reached out to FEMA for emergency funds, but the request was declined as the slide did not fall within specific storms eligible for those emergency funds, said Shaw. The slide occurred between two separate storm events; the city attempted to get FEMA to change the window of eligibility but declined, she said.
“So now we have gone back to be considered for FEMA funds because of the role the road plays as a tsunami evacuation staging ground, and the fact that it eliminated one of the water lines leading to the hospital, leaving only one water line to the hospital now,” said Shaw. “And it’s the only road above the flood plain to the hospital.”
