District staff outlines grant prospects and timeline; vote targeted for early 2027

District staff said the project is in a planning phase for state funding and is not yet shovel-ready for construction grants. The team applied for Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) assistance but staff said the district scored poorly in some SRF categories (planning versus construction readiness, disadvantaged status and reuse priorities), which reduces grant competitiveness. Staff noted that the state could still award funds if available, but planning projects typically receive lower priority.

On schedule, the district is targeting early 2027 for a property-owner vote on assessments after the project reaches about 90% design and the assessment engineer assigns parcel-level dollar values. Staff also said the City of Solvang aims to finish its treatment-plant upgrade by about Q2 2029; district staff signaled they intend to align construction and connection timing with Solvang's capacity upgrades where feasible.