Superior council hires consultant to seek $20 million in federal grants

Shelley Nelson, Superior Telegram, Wis.
·4 min read

Apr. 18—SUPERIOR — A nontraditional request from Councilor Garner Moffat sparked more than 1 1/2 hours of debate and multiple motions for the Superior City Council to consider Tuesday, April 16.

In the end, councilors split 6-3 to waive the bidding process to hire MC2 Collaborative of Sheridan, Wyoming, to lead a time-sensitive grant-writing process that could net a federal grant for up to $20 million for community-driven improvements to the neighborhoods north of Belknap Street.

"This is just the beginning decision of many, many decisions," said Councilor Lindsey Graskey, who joined Moffatt and councilors Nicholas Ledin, Jenny Van Sickle, Tylor Elm and Ruth Ludwig to vote in favor of a motion to approve the request.

Councilors Brent Fennessey, Mike Herrick and Mark Johnson voted against the proposal because it had not been vetted through the usual committee process and hadn't gone out to bid before coming to the council in the form of a contract.

"I think the North End is worth it," said Van Sickle, who proposed reducing the $81,000 cap to $28,000 to provide the council with a progress report before spending more money.

Motions to reduce the spending cap and postpone a decision indefinitely, which Mayor Jim Paine said would prompt him to put the proposal out to bid, failed. A motion to postpone a decision until May 7 failed to gain a second needed to consider it.

Paine said the bid process would likely take two months to have an agreement before the council.

"Even if we had started this when he first brought it up, we would still be in the bid process," Paine said.

Moffat said he learned of the grant opportunity through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently.

"I'm super nerdy and where other people's news feeds come up with sports updates or travel recommendations and all sorts of things, I get recommendations on urban planning," Moffat said. He said it was one of those items that led him to a webinar about the EPA climate justice grant opportunity.

After talking it over with the mayor and city department heads, as well as local grant writers, Moffat said he reached out to MC2, which he has worked with before, and which has a team of grant writers to work on larger grant applications like this one.

If successful, Moffat said, the grant could pay up to $20 million for projects like broadband expansion, lead pipe replacements, a new firehall with a community room in North End, air monitoring equipment and new amenities like a splash pad and public orchard in Wade Bowl.

"The community will be leading the charge," Moffat said.

With the grant process already open, Moffat said time is of the essence. The process is going to take time to identify projects, cost them out and make the application. The deadline to apply is Nov. 21.

"The longer we wait, the lesser our odds are," Moffat said.

"I see where Councilor Fennessey is going with this, but I would hate to jeopardize those larger dollars," Elm said.

The $81,000 maximum cost represents a worst-case scenario, Moffat said. He said if the consulting firm worked on the project for 100 hours per month for six months, that's what it would cost the city.

At $135 per hour, the city is receiving a reduced rate, said Lisa Mueller, chief operating officer and division director with MC2.

Paine said it's very unlikely that he would spend the entire $81,000 for the grant-writing process.

Funding for the proposal is slated to come from the city's Neighborhood Improvement Fund.

In other business:

* Councilors reelected to office April 2 were sworn in for new two-year terms. They include Ledin, Moffat, Fennessey, Ludwig and Johnson. Graskey was selected to serve as council president and Ludwig was chosen to be vice president.

* The council approved purchasing a Rosenbauer RTX electric fire engine for the Superior Fire Department.

* Councilors approved a submerged land lease agreement with the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands and a right-of-entry agreement for the Wisconsin Point beach nourishment project.