R2025-011 Resolution Authorizing Execution of a Grant Agreement Between the State of Illinois, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the City of Decatur

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Public Works DATE: 1/21/2025 MEMO: 2025-05 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Tim Gleason, City Manager Matt Newell,Director of Public Works Robert Weil,Water Production Manager Jennifer Gunter,Watershed&Lake Manager SUBJECT: Resolution Authorizing Execution of a Grant Agreement Between the State of Illinois,Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the City of Decatur SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council approve the attached resolution authorizing execution of a grant agreement between the State of Illinois, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the City of Decatur. Through this agreement, the City will receive$349,665.01 in Federal funds and the City will provide $253,110.00 for the implementation of watershed projects. BACKGROUND: The application for this water quality initiative grant was submitted in December 2022 and is now getting awarded to the City. It is the third IEPA grant(commonly called Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Grant)that the City has applied for since completing the dredging project. City staff intends to apply for these annually to help implement best management practices (BMPs) and create subwatershed resource plans in the Upper Sangamon River(Lake Decatur)watershed to reduce nonpoint source pollution,the amount of soil entering the lake, and improve the lake's water quality. The grant will fund these activities: • Stabilize 2,145 linear feet of critical eroding Lake Decatur shoreline segments. As in the 2023, a "breakwater"riprap design will be used,which allows for new vegetation to take root behind the breakwater and fish breeding to occur in the wide apron of the breakwater. • Construct 5.8 acres of wetlands in small tributaries to Lake Decatur • Complete 1,500 linear feet of streambed stabilization(approximately 6 riffles) • Northwater Consulting will update Illinois EPA approvable watershed-based plan for Big Creek Watershed and Long Creek Watershed that will meet the nine key elements of a watershed-based plan. The last project is particularly significant because it will allow the Bluffs watershed to be included in the second cycle of RCPP funding for our watershed. The City anticipates applying for that grant late in 2025. The constructed BMPs will reduce annual nonpoint source pollutant loadings to Lake Decatur of approximately 506 tons of sediment, 556 pounds of phosphorus and 3,639 pounds of nitrogen. Although these amounts represent a small percentage of the estimated sediment/nutrient loading on Lake Decatur, the cumulative effect over time can be significant. Another reason for these projects is that The City's investment in watershed management is a small fraction of the grant funding we are receiving. Partly as a result of our good-faith efforts