Stimulas Funding Limited

In the last couple weeks I have been working on receiving funding for the the WWTP upgrade.Many of you have assisted by signing petitions, sending letters, and communicating with other elected officials. Last week I was informed that we were not going to receive any funding, and had been removed from the ranking. I two another look at what had been submitted, and what I was informed about the application process. It seemed that we had been overlooked due to misinformation. Myself, and MIke Davis, at Burgess and Niple, had fairly good documentation. I disputed the the fact we were kicked from the group. After review the agency that is to score the applications have agreed to let our application continue on. I have pasted the email I received below. It was addressed to Mike, with Burgess and Niple. This clarifies where we are at in the application process. (This is stimulus money and is known as ARRA) The EPA has been great to work with throughout this project and they are very understanding.

May 5th 2009 (HOT OFF THE EMAIL PRESS)
Mike:

Sorry. After all these years I do, from time to time, slip into govt-speak.

You were originally excluded from ARRA consideration due to not having submitted your PTI application by April 3, 2009. Upon review of the circumstances surrounding your decision to not submit the application, which included discussions and directions from us, we decided to consider Lynchburg as having met the deadline. So ... Lynchburg is now eligible for ARRA funds. Basically that means that Lynchburg will move up to the first group on the Intended Projects List and may or may not, based on your project's rating be fundable.

Their will be no second round of scoring. Projects on the draft Intended Projects List may be re-ranked or re-rated based on comments received and/or information submitted. Once that effort is complete the final IPL will be prepared and at that time we, and you, will know whether Lynchburg is ARRA-fundable.

Basically, you've moved from "not fundable" to "might be fundable."

David Reiff
Supervisor
Assistance Administration Section
Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance

May 4th, 2009

Hi Jeremy,

It is my understanding per Mike Davis that he has submitted comments to
DEFA regarding the stimulus funds and we received your PTI and
Application on Friday (May 1). I want to emphasize that we do
understand your concern and your situation and even though the most
prudent thing to do at the time may have been not submit the PTI due to
your circumstances, we were not aware that it could impact your
eligibility for stimulus funding until the list came out. As I stated
before, there are no guarantees that the Village will receive stimulus
funds as it is in the control of others at this time. However, we can
guarantee you that we will forward your comments and attachments along
to those making those decisions in the event money does becomes
available given you now are in line for those funds.

We hope to have an answer for you not long after public comment is over
and the list is finalized at the Governor's office.

As always, contact us with any questions or concerns, Jeremy, and we
will be in contact soon regarding the PTI review.

Gretchen Fickle
Project Engineer
Ohio EPA - Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance


May 3rd, 2009

Gretchen,
Per our conversation, I expressed how I felt regarding
the events leading up to the stimulus funding award. I truly
believe I did everything in my power to make sure that we crossed
every T and dotted every i so that we were in excellent standing
to receive those monies. I have attached below an email, which was also
sent
as a letter to Sen. Carey, Rep. Daniels, and Gov. Strickland.
Senator Carey did endorse the project and sent a letter to the
Governor.
on showing this support. I did this only a few days after my
conversation
with Larry. I attached this as a pdf., and I hope this
helps. Thank you and the DEFA team for supporting the progress
of Lynchburg, and it's wastewater treatment facility. This funding
would mean so much to the people of this community, words cannot
even begin to describe.In addition I have several petitions that
people
signed in support of receiving stimulas funding.
Thank you
Jeremy R Shaffer, Mayor

APRIL 30, 2009

This correspondence is being sent on behalf of the Village of Lynchburg.

The Village of Lynchburg is currently under Director’s Findings and Orders to complete improvements to the Village-owned wastewater treatment plant. Late in 2008, the Village had issues with the then Village Clerk/Treasurer and the Village Wastewater Fund was found to contain about $30,000. As this would stretch the ability of Village to cover expenses, it was recommended by Ohio EPA-DEFA that the Village apply for a supplemental loan to the existing design/planning loan for the project to cover the PTI fees. All paperwork was completed and the application approved at the February 2008 OWDA meeting. Attached is a timeline that covers the chronology of the dealings with OEPA-DEFA on the project. As can be noted from the attachment, there was a delay of almost 4 weeks from the date all paperwork was submitted to DEFA and the time OWDA added the supplemental loan information to the disbursement form. During this period, both the Mayor and I discussed this issue numerous times with members of our DEFA team and was told repeatedly that the paperwork was completed and was in the Director’s office and was being delayed because of the scoring of the ARRA program.

It should be noted that, if it was common knowledge that submittal of the PTI was going to be THE determining factor of receiving the funds, the Village had the funds on hand and could have submitted in early February and waited for the disbursement from OWDA to be placed in the Wastewater Fund. When this option was discussed with DEFA staff, we were told that submittal of the PTI would have no bearing on receiving ARRA funds. This project is mandated by Ohio EPA, and the schedule in the F&Os states that the project must be in construction by 12/1/09. The Village plans on ensuring the project meets the timing required through the ARRA program. Also, user rates for the residents in Lynchburg are currently over $48/month and this $3.7M contract will only further increase the rates on the residents of Lynchburg.

Questions can be answered by:
Mike Davis, PE, Burgess & Niple, Inc. (304-485-8541 or mpdavis@burnip.com)
Or
Jeremy Shaffer, Mayor of Lynchburg (937-364-2241