Talks originally scheduled for this week between the San Juan
Bautista City Council and San Benito County Water District to
discuss the status of a $3.8 million infrastructure grant were
postponed until mid-October due to scheduling conflicts, according
to officials.
San Juan Bautista – Talks originally scheduled for this week between the San Juan Bautista City Council and San Benito County Water District to discuss the status of a $3.8 million infrastructure grant were postponed until mid-October due to scheduling conflicts, according to officials.
Tension has been high between the two agencies for weeks concerning how the grant, which is intended to repair the city’s dilapidated water and sewer system, should be administered.
Although both sides have accused the other of being unwilling to come to the table to resume communication concerning the status of the grant, water board President John Tobias said he believes it will eventually happen.
However, he said he hopes the Economic Development Agency does not decide to put $3.8 million to use somewhere else as a result of changed federal budget priorities caused by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
“I’m hoping the city of San Juan Bautista realizes what they’ve got and takes advantage of it,” Tobias said.
The EDA suspended the grant last month after receiving a letter from Tobias stating that San Juan was failing to abide by the terms of the agreement to administer the grant.
San Juan Bautista City Manager Jennifer Coile has said the water board deliberately caused the federal government to suspend the grant by sending the letter.
But Coile isn’t worried about losing the grant. In an e-mailed statement Coile said that the city has been working with the EDA since 1999 on the water infrastructure project and is proceeding with all necessary preparations to award a construction contract for the project in August of next year.
The water district had agreed to match the federal grant with $3.1 million in grants and loans to help finance the nearly $8 million project, but San Juan refused to sign off on the water district’s contract, claiming it gave the district too much control.
San Juan officials have said they can pursue other funding sources if need be.
