The City of Delta is one of seven communities still in the running for a grant from the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) which would be applied toward the proposed alternate truck route. DOLA representatives will be in Delta Jan. 12 to tour the project and gain a better understanding of the project’s impact on the city.

To prepare for that visit, the Delta City Council is holding a work session Tuesday, Jan. 5, prior to their regular council meeting.

Assistant city manager Steve Glammeyer delivered the final grant application to DOLA in mid-December. After the tour, a contingent from Delta will travel to Denver for a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation in front of DOLA’s executive board. That presentation is scheduled Feb. 1; the decision is expected by Feb. 8.

Glammeyer noted that DOLA is considering seven “very worthy” projects, and may end up spreading the $17 million earmarked by the state legislature among a handful. The City of Delta has requested $14.5 million.

“We may be the only community that can match the grant dollar-for-dollar, so I feel we’re in a very good position,” Glammeyer noted. That’s because city residents overwhelmingly approved a bond question in the November 2009 election. Voters approved a bond of up to $30 million, to be repaid from a one-cent sales tax which is paid into the citywide capital improvement fund. The cost of the alternate truck route, known as Confluence Drive, is an estimated $26.8 million.

He also noted that DOLA has already invested in the alternate truck route by funding two preliminary phases of the project — a feasibility study and the project design.

“If we don’t get the grant, then there will be some tough decisions,” Glammeyer said. In advance of the work session, he presented council members with a detailed spreadsheet which outlines five scenarios for funding the project — bonding $15 million over 20 years and 30 years, $20 million over 20 years and 30 years, and $25 million over 30 years (which assumes the city receives no grant funding). The repayment schedule will affect the city’s ability to fund other capital improvement projects for years to come, a weighty prospect for council members to consider as they make the final decision on whether to proceed with the alternate truck route.

“There is no doubt that undertaking this project will require some sacrifice of other projects,” Glammeyer noted in a written memo to council members. The sacrifice, of course, increases in relation to the bond amount.

He said he tried to be very conservative with revenue projections. Little or no increase in sales tax is anticipated in the first couple of years. A 2 percent increase in sales tax revenue is projected for 2013, climbing to 3 percent for 2014 and 2015, then to 4 percent annually from 2016 to 2044. He reminded council that for the past several years — prior to the downturn in the economy — the city experienced annual sales tax increases of 4 to 4.5 percent.

He also included information about capital expenditures for street repairs, sidewalk replacement, storm water upgrades, and other projects which have been completed over the past five years.

Glammeyer assured city council members that the engineers and staff continue to look for ways to cut costs, as well as pursue other funding options to help keep the amount borrowed to a minimum.

During the work session, he said council members should be prepared to come up with a response to a question that’s sure to be posed by DOLA’s executive board: “If we give you this grant money, will you proceed with this project?”

The Citizens for Safer Downtown, a group of area residents and city staff which worked diligently to make sure the bond question passed, don’t plan to drop the ball now. They encourage area residents to be on hand at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, at the rec center, when the DOLA representatives will be gathering for the tour of the project. “The more support this committee sees, the better,” said Chris Miller, a member of Citizens for Safer Downtown.

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