Rochester council denies request for requiring routine grant application reviews

May 6—ROCHESTER — A proposal for requiring Rochester City Council votes on potential grant applications was denied Monday, but several council members said they'd like to see an option for reviewing future funding requests.

"I'm simply asking for a little bit more visibility into what we are doing, what the grants would look like, so I could read a little bit more about them and maybe ask questions," council member Mark Bransford said.

Bransford and council member Shaun Palmer requested council consideration of a policy change that would require grant applications to be placed on meeting agendas for a vote. While no specific dollar amount was suggested, Palmer said prior to the meeting that a $50,000 limit would be suggested.

Council member Patrick Keane opposed the move, stating a council vote could delay applications and cause city staff to second guess future efforts to seek state or other funding for projects supported by the council.

"We are pushing future grant opportunities to other communities, and making living in Rochester more expensive," he said, pointing out that funds lost from grants would likely be replaced with local property-tax dollars.

The proposal for an additional council vote on grants came after Palmer and community members raised concerns about the contents of a state grant application that was submitted to support a modification to Silver Lake Dam.

With nearly $2.4 million in state funds anticipated to help fund the proposed $5.5 million project, Palmer said Monday the timing of the policy request is circumstantial.

"It's poor timing on our part that this came up at this time," he said, noting the city staff's request for grant funding followed a council directive to seek financial support for the Silver Lake project.

Mayor Kim Norton said the potential funding, like all grants received by the city, will face council review before being accepted, but an early review requirement could cause delays in seeking funding opportunities, especially when short deadlines are involved.

"I just don't want to do anything that would hurt our ability to compete," she said.

Bransford acknowledged the concern and pointed to the importance of alternative funding options when it comes to creating the city's annual budget.

"We try to keep the (property) tax levy down, and these grants are an amazing way to do that," he said.

Other council members agreed, eventually voting 6-0 to deny the requested policy change.

Council member Molly Dennis abstained from the vote, voicing support for its intent but concerns about the potential for losing state grants or other funding that could reduce costs for local taxpayers.

"The amount of grants that I have heard city staff goes after adds up to an incredible amount of dollars that saves taxpayers' pocketbooks," she said, adding: "I see both sides tremendously,"

While rejecting the added vote to approve grant applications, several council members asked staff to consider options for added review as they are submitted, suggesting providing a weekly list to the council.

Palmer said such a list would likely accomplish only a part of what he intended when calling for the policy change.

"I have a belief that the staff does a very good job in informing us of what is going on," he said. "I'm not sure everyone in the community knows that."

"I like it being on the consent agenda or some other item that we could put it on so the public would know about it," he said.

In other business, the council:

* Approved a 33-acre land subdivision to create 53 single-family residential lots and three outlots in northeast Rochester along Stonehedge Drive Northeast.

* Approved a capital-improvement plan related to a two-phase district energy project for downtown city-owned building, along with preliminary approval for the issuance of related bonds to finance the project.