Humboldt project put on hold

This year the TIB received more than $301 million in re-quested grant funding, which exceeded the agency’s available funds. Grants were distributed to applicants who scored high on the TIB Application Rating Summary.

Out of 100 points, the City of Bingen’s proposed project scored a 64 and ranked below the TIB’s cutoff. The city was seeking a grant of $654,550.

“We did not get our grant,” said Bingen City Administrator Jan Brending. “I was pretty disappointed. Every year it’s the way with any grant money, there’s always lots more projects than there is money.”

White Salmon, in contrast, received TIB approval of two grants for fiscal year 2018: one for reconstruction of NW Lincoln Street between  N Main and NE Garfield avenues ($532,441) and seal coating of multiple street locations ($131,580). Estimated total cost of these projects, with local match, is $730,106.

Brending told City Councilors the TIB project engineer the city worked with still thought the Humboldt Street project was good, and encouraged the city to reapply for the grant next year.

“It’s possible that even the same project just as it is, would get selected next year,” explained Brending. “That’s a bummer,” noted City Council member Isolde Schroder.

Brending explained the project “is still on the books, but it’s not going to construct in 2017.” The hope is that funds will be granted for construction for the 2018 TIB grant cycle, Brending added.

City Council member Catherine Kiewit asked whether expanding the scope of the project would increase its odds of securing funding. “It seemed like we could get more points if there was a bigger need for safety,” Kiewit said.

The TIB Application Rating Summary breaks the 100 points down into four categories: safety, maximum points 40; pavement condition, maximum points 30; local support, 20; and sustainability, 10.

The City of Bingen scored a 19 for safety, 20 for pavement condition, local support received a score of 20, and project sustainability received a 5-point score.

“Where you really get your points on safety is if you have accidents,” Brending explained. “Pedestrians killed, hit, car wrecks, and unfortunately we don’t have that kind of data and if we make the project bigger there could be some questions of how we’re even going to pay for it.”

“I really think the major problem here is that there’s not enough funding this year on this project,” Brending added. “We were under the cutoff.”

The next step will be for the project will be a meeting between Brending and the TIB project engineer, on site, to review the application for next year’s grant cycle.

“I think there are ways to improve the application, but I think we want to hear from our TIB engineer and see what she has to say,” said Brending.