BPW Clarifications Needed For Council; Inspection Report Not Forwarded

At its regular March meeting, the Board of Public Works (BPW) discussed some clarifications that need to be made for the benefit of some Holden City Council members.

After researching the guidelines and stipulations for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, BPW members are in agreement that the City’s water, wastewater and storm water needs qualify for the ARPA funds.
BPW members requested that Water Superintendent Tony Lerda give a detailed presentation to the City Council, regarding Holden’s serious infrastructure needs/issues.

Lerda agreed to give the presentation, and he and Councilman  Jim McDaniel worked on the specific details, chronicling what needs immediate attention within the City’s utility system. Lerda then attended the February 15 council meeting to share the BPW’s concerns.

Due to the technical nature of the presentation, it was decided that Lerda would be the best person to explain the needs of the City’s utilities to members of the council.

Lerda explained to the BPW the sequence of events that occurred when he gave the presentation to council in February. His first concern was that he was misrepresented during the introduction.

He wants council to understand he had been speaking on behalf of the BPW and the subject on the agenda item should have read “BPW drinking water and wastewater project funding with 2021 Stimulus and ARPA funds.”
A comment was made by a council member regarding distribution of the funds, questioning if “Tony should receive 2/3 and storm water only 1/3 (of ARPA funds).”

Lerda told to the BPW that it appears that Council mistakenly believes they are being asked to give funds to “Tony Lerda” when the actual request was for the City to invest the ARPA funds equally into the community’s three utilities (drinking water, wastewater and storm water).

Lerda also….

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