Funding specialist updates Chelan City Council on grants received or pending

CHELAN – A funding progress report, summarizing grants received, grant requests pending, and repeat applications, provided the June 10 city council with insightful background details on how the process works.

In February 2024, the city entered into an agreement with Tower Consulting to provide expertise with grants and funding applications.

Annalisa Noble, Principal Funding Specialist/Grant Writer for Tower Consulting, updated the council on what the city has received, what is pending, and related ongoing efforts.

“Since 2023, we have collaboratively submitted 17 funding applications for a total of $31.2 million, and to date, six of those have been awarded, totaling $9.2 million secured for the city for its priority projects,” said Noble.

Noble said that another five applications, still pending for $10.5 million, are awaiting award announcements. She also added a comment about the remaining $11-plus million of the $31.2 million available that was not awarded.

 “The bulk of the unawarded applications are repeat applications that we submit every year, mostly to Washington state for legislative appropriations,” said Noble. “These are very competitive and generally take a few attempts, so we do that every year.”

Noble said that while securing awards is the most visible result of grant writing and probably the most fun, the majority of the work happens behind the scenes.

The applications and awards breakdown since 2023 shows:

Noble reviewed the city’s current funding projects.

“We have a lot of activity so far this year,” said Noble. “We have already gotten a notice of award from Rep. Steele’s office for $3 million for the design phase of the East Chelan Water Project. The very first phase is what we needed to get the project going.”

A $2.5M application through Rep. Schrier’s office for the Phase 2 booster pump station was not funded, but a second application through Sen. Murray’s office is currently pending.

In September 2024, the city applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to fund the estimated $18M cost of the Lake Chelan Water Resiliency and Efficiency Project.

“Since then, we have been working closely with ACE,” said Noble. “They suggested the city revise its request and break the project down into phases and more fundable sections so they could start participating. We took that advice,”

In a recent meeting with the USACE Noble learned that while the Corps really likes the Chelan project, it confirmed receipt of a federal level no-construction funding order for fiscal year 2025.

“They also anticipate that fiscal 2026 is going to be limited as well,” said Noble. “They are hoping to be able to participate in grant funding starting at the construction phase of the project. We are targeting Oct. 1, 2026, as the beginning of their fiscal 2027 year.” 

A pair of pending applications through WSDOT includes a $2.2M request for the Apple Blossom Multiuse Trail and $267,000 for the Farnham-Webster Pedestrian Safety Project.

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media