Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The Community
Water Enrichment Fund (CWEF) provides financial assistance to local units of
government in rural areas. The CWEF program will be administered by the Office
of Community Development (OCD).
B.
All municipalities and parishes within the State of Louisiana that are
identified by HUD as non-entitlement communities are eligible to apply for
assistance.
C. Local Government
classifications are defined as: Villages (pop. 1-999), Towns (pop.
1,000-4,999), Cities (pop. 5,000-35,000) and Parish governments.
D. OCD shall develop an application procedure
satisfying the purposes and intentions of the CWEF.
E. The Office of Community Development
applies the following guidelines to any project or activity funded.
1. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the
Director of OCD/CWEF shall determine the equal funding level for all eligible
parishes based on the total amount budgeted as aid to local governments for
CWEF grants.
2. Applications will
only be accepted for the following eligible activities: rehabilitation,
improvement, and new construction projects for community potable water systems.
Reasonable engineering costs (if associated with construction) are
allowed.
3. The purchase of
generators or chemicals will not be allowed under this program.
4. Funds from this program cannot be used to
pay consulting fees charged to a unit of government for the preparation of the
application, for administrative costs by agents of the project sponsor or any
third party. Also, funds cannot be used to pay for previously incurred debt,
improvements to private property, overtime for government employees,
administration, engineering-only or planning-only projects. CWEF funds are not
intended for salary-only projects or ongoing salaried positions.
5. Parish governments may request funding for
projects that serve a parish-wide area or an unincorporated area within the
parish.
6. Applicants may not
exceed stated funding levels as outlined in the CWEF application guidelines for
any fiscal year, except in those circumstances where other eligible applicants
within each parish agree by resolution to allow funding levels to be
exceeded.
7. Three-year contracts
shall be issued for CWEF grants by OCD. Contract extensions and changes to the
project must be requested in writing by the grantee and approved in writing by
the Director of OCD/CWEF.
8. No
award shall be made to an entity listed on the LLAs non-compliance
list.
9. Applications received
after deadline established by OCD will not be considered.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with Act 513 of the 2008 Regular Legislative
Session.
