A public safety project for the City of Jacksonville has fallen under the hammer of the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Back in late June, Emergency Management Director Phil McCarty discussed updates to the municipal building’s generators. The city received a federal hazard mitigation grant to purchase a new generator, as the old one was reaching the end of its service life. The grants were a 75/25 match, and the city was awarded the grant nearly 3 years ago. The grant was for approximately $2.5 million.
Last night at the Jacksonville City Council meeting, McCarty says that with the cuts and freezes of federal funds, the city may be on the hook for the entire project now: “We ordered the generator, I think, 10 months ago or so. It’s finally here. It’s not physically here, but it’s in Bartonville. [Tonight’s action items] are a part of the installation portion of that. It’s super expensive, but it’s also super necessary. I would probably be regressive if not to tell you that this is a 75/25% percent matching grant and the 75% is frozen. I do believe that will all work its way out. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t tell you that we may be on the hook for all of it. It’s the world that we live in today. There is not a government agency in the country that’s not working through these challenges right now. I think it is really important that we keep public safety in focus. I think this is an important investment. We’re on the hook. We could shut it down right now if you want to. We will have to pay, probably, double on a restocking fee on a generator. That probably is not a great idea. This is something that probably should have been done many years ago. This is a public safety building for all of us to work in.”
The council approved the purchase of the generator pad, trench, the electrical work for the new installation of the generator, as well as a new transfer switch. McCarty says that the city won’t have to start paying the invoice to Caterpillar for the generator until it arrives on site. A timeline on the project’s completion was not provided.