City starts year with a couple of windfalls

Though it’s not looking as though a final round of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding will be on offer to complete the cost of the 3rd Street waterline project, the City of Sundance did receive a modest windfall as the program came to an end.

In addition, Public Works Director Mac Erickson is expecting assistance from the state in the quest to find out whether any lead still exists within the city water system.

3rd Street

With tight deadlines to commit the funding, the city had hoped that some ARPA grants would be re-turned to the state and once again made available.

Had that been the case, the council intended to submit an application for the remaining cost of the 3rd Street Waterline project, which will repair a major water leak through which the city has estimated it loses 50,000 gallons of water per day.

This project was funded through ARPA but, due to a delay between submission of the application and approval, the bids came in around $1.1 million above the $1.5 million that was granted. The council went ahead with the project and began seeking funds elsewhere.

Another round of ARPA funding was one of the options that the city was keeping an eye on, along with a Mineral Royalty Grant.

Public Works Director Mac Erickson told the council last week that the state had divided up all the funds that were left unspent as the ARPA deadline arrived between the entities that had applied for it. Each was to receive a percentage of the matching funds that they had provided for their projects, he said.

Sundance received $8199 for the now-completed Ryan Street waterline project and $55,334 for the 3rd Street project.

Pending weather, Erickson said, the 3rd Street project is ready to begin as soon as possible.

Lead Pipes

Erickson also told the council that funding is expected to become available soon to help the city com-plete the task of identifying lead lines within its water system.

This has been mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with three years left to complete the inventory. At this time, he said, there are 400 unknowns between the home and the curb stop.

Though not sure what the price tag will be as he does not yet know how the EPA will want the checks to be done, Erickson said that a program is being developed at the state level to assist with the cost.

The EPA also wants galvanized lines identified, he added, but he only knows of two that will still need to be replaced once the 3rd Street project is complete.

As yet, Erickson said, the EPA has not specified next steps. While it seems likely that the agency will want all lead pipes removed, this has not been confirmed and no timeline has been given.