| City to get federal stimulus energy dollars |
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| Wednesday, 27 May 2009 | |
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by Peter Bodley Managing editor Coon Rapids is getting a piece of the federal stimulus energy pie. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the city a $562,700 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. This allocation is part of more than $2.6 billion in formula grants available nationwide from the DOE through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The formula grants are targeted at projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions as well as improve energy efficiency nationwide. “The grant is designed to both save energy and create jobs,” said City Manager Matt Fulton. Coon Rapids was the recipient of a grant because it is a large city in a large county in the state. Anoka County was awarded $1,896,100 in federal stimulus dollars. But the city was not expecting to get the grant and has until June 25 to make a formal application, specifying the projects for which it plans to use the money. At a council work session earlier this month, staff recommended a list of potential projects to be submitted. The council concurred with the majority of those proposals, but not all. Projects that are currently on the priority list for submission to the federal energy department include: • Replacing water well/booster pumps with higher efficiency pumps (12 of them), $144,000. This is expected to save $2,000 to $3,000 a year in energy costs and includes a one-time rebate of $24,000 from the utility company. • Replace Coon Rapids City Center lighting in the police parking lot and pedestrian lights in front of the city center with energy efficient LED lights, $10,000. • Construct a new building at the Coon Rapids Recycling Center and add a new parking lot, $258,000. • Replace street lighting in the Round Lake Boulevard and Main Street area with energy-efficient LED fixtures (135 of them), $163,000. Proposals culled from the list by the council included installation of motion sensors and dimmers in all interior lights in city buildings, $40,000, and a control system for the Coon Rapids Soccer Complex lighting, $15,000. Because of the short time line for making the application - the letter from DOE was dated May 12 - and the complexity of the federal application process, the Coon Rapids City Council has gone along with a staff recommendation to hire a consultant to prepare and submit the application and the required supporting documentation. Three firms were interviewed by city staff and the one chosen was McKinstry, which is based in Seattle, Wash., but which has a Minneapolis office. The contract with McKinstry totals $48,000, the money to be taken from the grant dollars. According to Steve Gatlin, city public services director, McKinstry is the most qualified to provide assistance to the city in its process. The firm is currently under contract with many suburban cities getting the federal energy grants, including Eagan, Plymouth, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, Edina and Maple Grove. Under its contract with the city of Coon Rapids, McKinstry will: • Provide a preliminary engineering audit at no cost to the city. • Complete a directed engineering study of each of the city’s projects to meet the requirements of the federal grant. • Prepare and submit the grant application package. • Work with the city to ensure that the projects are under contract as required within 120 days notice of the grant award. • Work with the city to use local contractors for construction of the improvements. • Provide ongoing reporting as required. As part of its work for the city, McKinstry will determine if any of the city’s proposed projects don’t meet the federal criteria for funding, according to Fulton. One concern is the recycling center building and parking lot project, which although it will create construction jobs may not meet the energy savings test, even though it is an important project, Fulton said. Indeed, McKinstry may make recommendations to the council on other projects not currently on the council list that would better meet the federal criteria, he said. And even after the June 25 deadline for the application submission, the city still has 120 days to tweak its projects, Fulton said. “We want to make sure we stretch our dollars as much as possible to get the best bang for the buck,” he said. The council is expected to approve the final project list for the federal grant application at its June 16 meeting. Once submitted, the DOE’s project management team will review each application to ensure that “the grantee has developed a strategy for the use of funds with activities eligible under the program and that the proposed budgets are acceptable,” according to the DOE Web site. The grant program “represents a presidential priority to deploy the cheapest, cleanest and fastest energy source energy efficiency,” the Web site states. Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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