Columbus Consolidated Government
Council Memorandum
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TO: Mayor and Councilors
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Date: 7/24/2012 12:00:00 AM
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TO: Mayor and Councilors
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Date: 7/24/2012 12:00:00 AM
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Created:
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7/16/2012 10:52:00 AM
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THRU: Isaiah Hugley, City Manager
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FROM: Rick Jones, Planning Director
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Subject: Cancellation of Weatherization Program
For the past three months staff has been working with Community Action For
Improvement (CAFI) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin
implementing the weatherization program that was presented to Council earlier
this year. This process has involved numerous conference calls and emails
among all of the involved parties, including our Finance Department, to insure
that everyone had a clear understanding of what would be considered eligible
costs and activities under this grant. Unfortunately, even with this effort
DOE has not provided us or CAFI with any clear definitions or direct answers,
particularly when it comes to the reimbursement of expense items. Without some
type of assurance that CAFI's or any city activities would be 100 percent
reimbursable, I asked Mr. Jerome Anderson, the Executive Director of CAFI, to
reevaluate this program and make a determination on his organization's part as
to whether they felt confident in going forward with this program. His
response to this request is attached, which clearly states that under the
present situation they do not have confidence in DOE and wish to be released
from their contract.
It is because of this lack of direction by DOE that I share the same concerns
that Mr. Anderson has and recommend that we accept the request to terminate
this contract. With this action, the $400,000 assigned to this project can be
reallocated to further fund energy improvements to the traffic timing
signalization system in the community, which is presently an eligible cost
under this grant. Approximately 190 intersections would be retimed and
synchronized through this action. A listing of the intersections to be retimed
is attached. There are several advantages in doing this: 1) traffic movement
through these intersections would be improved; 2) energy savings to motorist
would be enhanced by reducing the amount of time spent waiting at these
intersections; and 3) a potential reduction of air pollutants which would
benefit air quality in the community. Time is of the essence, as these funds
need to be committed no later than the end of this year.
The termination of this contract should in no way reflect against CAFI and
their ability to administer programs of this type. In our meetings with them,
they have shown that they are thorough and knowledgeable in the handling of
weatherization projects. To date, they have been successful in administering
the state's weatherization project for this region, which ironically is being
funded by the DOE. It is because of this success that we requested that the 25
applications that were initially started by Enrichment Services Program Inc.,
be reviewed by CAFI for consideration under this state weatherization program.
In addition, staff will also notify these applicants that they should contact
CAFI to determine if they are eligible for weatherization assistance under this
program.