Wasco seeks federal funding for police station/EOC; staff say grant caps mean local gap remains

City staff updated the Wasco City Council on a federal funding request tied to the proposed police station and an emergency operating center (EOC). Staff reported they spoke with a congressional representative’s office and submitted a request for $5,000,000 toward the EOC component of the new police facility.

During the presentation, Lara (city staff) said the congressional office is considering the project and that staff asked specifically for $5 million for the EOC. “That was a $5,000,000 ask,” she said.

Staff emphasized that the grant program under consideration appears to cap awards around $5 million and must be justified strictly for EOC functionality. Lara and other staff explained that while the total project cost is near $19–20 million, many federal grant programs will not fund the full amount. As Lara put it, “They can only do $5,000,000… Anything more, they typically won’t fund more than 5 [million].” Councilmembers asked whether the $5 million figure was the maximum available and were told the city would need to locate supplemental funding for the remainder.

Scott and budget staff said that if the $5 million is awarded it would be an important contribution but not sufficient to fund the entire police station project; the city would still need to combine grants, reserves or other sources to reach the full project cost. No formal commitment or appropriation occurred at the meeting; staff flagged the item for continued tracking as part of the CIP conversation and said the project timeline may speed up if grant awards come through.

What happens next: staff will continue to pursue the congressional funding option while also identifying additional local or state funding to fill the expected gap between the grant award and total project cost. The council did not take formal action at the meeting.