Tornado 2007

TOWN OF HOLLY
SIX MONTH PROGRESS REPORT
September 28, 2007

The governing body of the Town of Holly is on the cusp of advancing quickly through a building and renewal process the likes of which may have never before been experienced in the town's history. This is an exciting and wonderful opportunity that will be made possible through the efforts of Governor Bill Ritter and his Executive Order, the Department of Local Affairs, the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, Greater Outdoors Colorado, Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, donations from many public and private sources, and perhaps entities yet unknown to us.

Since the tornado disaster, the town board has been faced with an amazing and unheard of opportunity of being able to carry forth capital fund projects that were never before within reach. Think of it in these terms: The town's 2007 annual budget for all funds was $1,933,694. The town is moving forward with projects totaling upwards of $2,500,000 which will influence sweeping increases upon the town's upcoming 2008 budget, and to a lesser degree, the 2009 budget.

The following clarification of projects and the various sources of funding available to the town for municipal renewal is lengthy. While burdensome, it is hoped that public discomfort regarding the town's progress will be lessened by this explanation of how the process is planned, why projects of this nature must inherently move through certain 'longer than we prefer' phases, and how they are paid for.

1. Governor Ritter's Executive Order

The town did not receive a million dollars from Governor Ritter. There is no million dollar account from which the town can draw endlessly until it figures out how to spend all million dollars. This is an unfortunate misconception in the community. The Governor clearly outlined in the Executive Order that, "...the encumbrance of up to $1 million from the Disaster Emergency Fund pay for the response and recovery effort related to this disaster." The operative words here are UP TO. All requests for payment/reimbursement must meet the specific guidelines regarding disaster payments as determined by Colorado law. All expenditure requests are approved (or disapproved) by the Division of Emergency Management. The town has absolutely no oversight of the Disaster Emergency Fund or its functions and therefore has no ability to report total expenditures to date. However, the town can report its total draw from the encumbrance through August which is $20,696.

The purpose of the governor's million dollar encumbrance is to offer the town assistance in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. For instance, the million dollars does not provide new asphalt overlay to upgrade streets six months from now, or repair the park, build a storm shelter, correct storm water drainage, or purchase a new siren. Following are some of the things that have been paid for by the governor's encumbrance:

• Transportation and permitting of the FEMA homes and rv's
  
• Lease payments to Hefley/Weimer property owners
  
• Preparation of the Hefley/Weimer property to accommodate the homes
  
• Materials, supplies, and labor to prepare the homes for occupation
  
• Town of Holly utilities used in the homes prior to being occupied
  
• Property/Casualty/Liability insurance on the homes, rv's
  
• Lamar Public Works reimbursement-emergency repair of water infrastructure in the tornado path. (The town's insurance does not cover underground infrastructures)
  
• Salaries, HRTF Personnel: Housing Director, Case Manager, Maintenance
  
• Salary, Town of Holly Personnel: Accountant part-time
  
• Salary, Town of Holly Personnel: Mowing Hefley/Weimer mobile home property
  
• Utilities for rv's at west ball park for volunteers working on recovery projects
  
• Labor, haul, material placed at rv spaces at west ball park
  
• Insurance coverage, maintenance on tool trailer, bunk-house trailer
  
• Mental Health Services, Prowers County: counseling
  

The Executive Order also authorized the following expenditures which are not a part of the million dollars:

• Colorado Department of Human Services: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) - $10,000 to each qualifying family with minor children



• Colorado Division of Emergency Management: Low-interest loans or other federal funding related to the disaster emergency, including Small Business Administration loans, Community Development Block Grants, and Community Service Block Grants. This includes low interest loans available from SECED (Southeastern Colorado Economic Development Lamar)

• The town applied for and received a grant in the amount of $22,551 from the Division of Emergency Management to purchase a new siren. The DEM grant is funded with state and federal money. Additionally, the town received a loss payable from its insurance carrier in the amount of $17,311 for the destroyed siren which was used to purchase a new replacement siren.

• Colorado Department of Transportation: Issuance of overweight and oversize permits without charging the statutory fee to carriers providing disaster assistance; to include those carriers removing debris, delivering supplies and other materials associated with the disaster recovery and rebuilding effort.

2. Colorado Department of Local Affairs

takes up the rebuilding and renewal process where the governor's order for satisfying the immediate needs of the town ends. DOLA will be very involved with the town's progress for a few years to come. The governor's order authorized DOLA "...to use appropriate funds and grant money that may be available from other sources to assist in the repair and reconstruction of publicly owned facilities and infrastructure". This is not associated with the Governor's Executive Order, but is nonetheless a godsend for the community. The town must go through the grant writing process to receive this funding. Following is an overview of what has transpired between DOLA and the Town of Holly since the disaster.

• DOLA is working with the town to repair the water infrastructure through the tornado path. This $90,000+ grant project is nearing the end of the engineering phase. The project will be let out to bid soon and implementation will follow within a reasonable amount of time.



• DOLA has increased the size of the original $522,000 Main Street grant to an estimated $1,000,000+ grant. This will increase the original scope to include: sidewalk and frontage upgrades (including lighting) along Highway 50 from one block east of Main Street to Gateway Park, and on North Main from Highway 50 to the school playgrounds. Components also added are the depot grounds and sidewalk replacement from Santa Fe to Tony Garcia Drive, the complete removal and replacement of sidewalks on Main Street from Santa Fe to Hwy 50, signage and kiosks.



• DOLA is paying for the design team that is involved with the redesign of public spaces such as the park, Main Street enhancements, swimming pool and tennis courts, depot grounds, shelter proposals, etc. To date this expenditure is $1,700.



• The town applied for and received a grant in the amount of $76,000 from DOLA to assist with the purchase of a new backhoe. The town's cash match will be determined by the Board of Trustees when it selects the equipment to be purchased.



• DOLA pays for the engineering and all other necessary professional consulting required for the projects.



• The town received a grant from DOLA in the amount of $148,944 (including final change orders) to bore under Hwy 50 for the purpose of installing new water mains; this project has been completed.



• The town received a grant for assistance in the amount of $75,000 toward the salary of a project manager. The town did not apply for this grant. Having experienced the recovery process with the Town of Limon following its tornado disaster, DOLA strongly recommended that the Town of Holly accept this grant assistance. DOLA is well versed on the need for project management in this scenario. As is the case with all DOLA grants, the town must provide a cash match in order to receive grant money; hence, the entire cost of the project manager's salary is not granted.

• This individual is involved closely with the town's projects, acting in the capacity of project manager. He is in communication with the administrator, various engineering firms, outside contractors and surveying teams, and is directly involved in helping to carry out all the planning and implementation processes for the projects at hand. This includes meeting the arduous reporting standards required by granting agencies. This involves, among other things, a complete and in-depth review of bid packets as contractors submit them back to the town prior to being presented to the Board of Trustees for selection. Also involved in managing projects of this size is the continual interaction with outside agencies. It is up to the project manager to make the appropriate review and follow-up of the transmittal of required forms and paperwork regarding the contracts between the involved entities - no small undertaking on contracts of the size and scope we are expecting. The town administrator is the librarian of the bids, contracts, permits, maps, specs, contacts, etc. The project manager is called upon to provide continual updates and critical information to the documents for purposes of administrative oversight. He must also see to it that all contractors and subcontractors involved adhere to a detailed project schedule and track progress. Mobilization and warehousing of materials and products will be under his purview. He will also work with the town's accountant in following specific contract payment protocol, initiating payment approval through the administrator when contract benchmarks are fully satisfied by contractors.



• Change orders are an expected element of any large building project. While it is customary to budget for contingencies, all changes that affect the bottom line dollars of each contract must be taken under review with the administrator by the project manager. The change orders can be approved only if found to be acceptable to the town, the retained engineering firms, the contractor, subcontractors, and the granting agency. For this and other intricacies, it is good business practice for the town to have involved representation at the work site at all times for purposes of oversight and reporting. From an engineering and technical standpoint, the level of preliminary planning and subsequent review on projects of this nature is arduous. As various components of the projects are set into motion, the likelihood of simultaneous implementation is great. In order to offer the best possible finished product, one that will be a proud addition to the town for many years to come while accomplishing the endeavor in a fairly short amount of time, the town must anticipate drawing upon every opportunity for assistance, including the utilization of a project manager.

• The town submitted a grant application to DOLA for the replacement of water mains and services along Highway 50 between 6th and 10th. Even though not related to tornado recovery, this project has been on the town's capital projects plan since 2003 and the town board is still anticipating 2008-09 implementations. The Board of Trustees has been seriously considering the full scope of the plan and how it will be implemented for over a year. If the grant is approved by DOLA, it will pay about two-thirds of the project's total estimated cost of $355,000. The remaining portion of the required funding can be obtained through the Colorado Water Quality Control Division Financial Assistance Program. This is a revolving loan program - even though it is anticipated that the Town of Holly will qualify for a 0% interest loan from the fund, by law it is still necessary for the Board of Trustees to go to a vote of the people for permission to borrow the funds.

• What will your vote in favor of borrowing the money accomplish? Three significant situations currently exist: 1) there are approximately 34 customers immediately north and south of Hwy 50 between 6th and 10th Streets who are directly served from a small, very fragile 4" iron main under the north apron of Hwy 50. This arrangement, while adequate many years ago when installed, precipitates inadequate water service standards by today's demand criterion, and poses serious implications because of the level of decay of the main; 2) the approximately 19 water customers on the immediate south side of Hwy 50 in this area are served through emaciated lead service lines which traverse under Hwy 50. The lines may have been state-of-the-art and adequate many years ago when installed, but by today's standards are not considered a viable transmission option by the Colorado Water Quality Control Division; and 3) low pressure in some areas on the west side of town which feed off the 4" iron main.



• The goal of the project is to increase service quality, not only to the services along the highway, but in a number of areas on the west side of town, by establishing a new main looping system that is more efficient and offers higher pressure and flow capabilities. To reach this goal, the three-fold plan is: 1) bypass the 4" main under Hwy 50 by installing a 6" main from 7th Street to 10th Street outside of CDOT rights-of-way. This will allow the town to provide better service by employing timely repair and recovery techniques without waiting for CDOT's consent; 2) install a new 6" main on the south side of Hwy 50 from 6th Street to 10th Street, once again outside of CDOT rights-of-way; 3) customers on the immediate north and south sides of the highway will receive new service lines from the 6" mains to their homes that are up to current codes and standards. The old lead lines will lie dormant under the highway, having been bypassed with this project.

3. Greater Outdoors Colorado (lottery money) is the agency that will financially assist the town with the rebuilding of Gateway Park.

• Understandably, the residents of Holly are disappointed with the appearance of Gateway Park. However, we must all be patient and allow the entities and individuals who are helping us recover maneuver through the necessary steps required to set a plan in place that is deserving of the best funding available.

• The Colorado State Forest Service performed a very exhaustive tree inventory of the park. Based on the outcomes of the findings and the options presented in the report, the design team is now entertaining a plan which will complete the work in the park by phases. Sadly, 59 of the 60 Siberian Elms are identified as currently being in dead/dying or very poor condition. Two crabapple trees, one catalpa, and one silver maple remain in fair condition. It is recommended that the elms be removed as they are now too weakened to have in a park setting and will never grow to be healthy trees again. The plan is that the trees will be removed in phases of about 1/3 of the trees at a time.



• The design team is considering the park as a four-phase project. In preparation for beginning the initial phase, the Colorado State Forest Service has advised that the tree suckers which were being mowed earlier in the summer for a cleaner appearance of the park should be allowed to grow to 2-3' and then treated to prevent any further growth. It is almost impossible to mow around the growth, so please bear with us while we go through the steps required for the best possible outcome.



• Phase one would include the existing south park. A sprinkler system would be installed and sod set for turf. Trees would be properly trimmed, the shelter repaired, and the playground equipment left as it is. This would allow townspeople and passers-by the use of the south park while subsequent phasing in the north park is occurring. GOCO has taken the lead by committing an initial $25,000 to the project, waiving the grant application process. The Town of Holly received donations which were earmarked for park use and could be applied to this phase of the project. Also, the town received loss payables from its insurance carrier for the damaged shelter and landscaping, which can contribute to this phase if needed.



• Phase two would remove trees from the south end of the north park. This construction phase would include a bandstand, plantings, sod, walkways, new tree plantings, etc.



• Phase three involves the northern half of the north park. After removal of the trees, the site would be re-graded to include the new features proposed. This portion of the park would be directed more to the neighborhood and would include play structures, picnic tables, and near the south end of the project, bring the two phases of the north park together around a larger picnic shelter-restroom and community (family gathering) grilling area. There is also an open lawn area in this phase with trees for shade, walkways, etc.



• Phase four would finalize the south park by removing the trees, re-grading, installing new irrigation, and upgrading the park to include a better defined parking lot, traveler information signage, play structures, picnic shelter, and possibly restrooms. The funding for phases two through four would come from GOCO granting, which will be applied for by the town. As with DOLA grants, matching funds are required. The design team feels this approach is a good manageable way to look at removal of the trees and funding yearly projects.

Volunteers