Members of the Lewis County Board of Commissioners and Centralia City Council preferred this option of four for Borst Avenue rehab presented by SCJ Alliance during a workshop meeting in April 2017.
To be more competitive when applying for state funds for a pedestrian improvement project on Borst Avenue, the Centralia City Council increased its commitment to provide matching funds by 5 percent for the project in hopes of increasing its chance to receive the needed money for the road.
The city is currently working with Lewis County to prepare a funding application for the state’s Transportation Improvement Board for the project, which would include a two-lane road with safety improvements and a 10-foot shared path.
The deadline to submit the application is Aug. 18. Originally, the city had planned to commit the required 20 percent to match state investment, but the council decided to increase that amount to 25 percent.
“For every additional 1 percent that you commit in match in this letter, you get one point up to a maximum of 5 points,” Kahle Jennings, the city’s public works director, said. “… So by increasing your match, you are increasing your competitiveness in the process.”
The increased match amount will be included in a letter of commitment, and if funds are awarded, the city will be held to that number.
Borst Avenue, most ofwhich lacks sidewalks, connects Centralia Middle School and Centralia High School and has long been seen as a potential safety risk for walking students. The city owns about 62 percent of the road, while the county owns 38 percent of the roadway. That means the improvements would cost Centralia around $2.8 million, while the county would pay $1.7 million for the improvements.
“It’s not a small project for us,” Jennings said. “We really need the TIB funding.”
The process to obtain TIB funding is incredibly competitive, according to Jennings, who shared that many times projects do not receive funding the first time an application is submitted. Once a project is in the queue, however, TIB is more willing to provide guidance to secure funding, Jennings said.
This year, Centralia will be competing with larger projects in cities such as Olympia and Tumwater.
Jennings estimated the Borst Avenue project has a 50-50 chance of being funded. Since traffic numbers play into the equation, Jennings said the larger cities have a better chance of receiving any funding.
“I’m not sure if 25 percent is going to enhance it a lot, but that’s a fine line there,” Jennings said, adding that extra points do make a difference in the rating process for grants.
The money is in part provided through the city’s Transportation Benefit District, which is funded by a voter-improved two-tenths of 1 percent sales tax. The TBD generates about $650,000 annually. Sixty percent goes toward road improvements, while 40 percent is set aside for matching money for larger projects, like Borst Avenue, that the city can’t afford to do at the time.
The city has a healthy reserve, according to Councilor John Elmore, who recommended adding the extra 5 percent because it could give the project the competitive edge it needs in order to be approved.
Councilor Peter Abbarno agreed and made a motion to increase the match to 25 percent. The match amount and letter of commitment were approved in the consent agenda portion of the meeting with an unanimous vote.
