City staff told the Yamhill City Council Dec. 10 they are pursuing regional funding to improve the city's raw-water infrastructure and said federal and regional partners are working on potential grant applications.

Speaker 1 reported a meeting with the regional council of governments and the Economic Development Administration about a construction grant "up to $20,000,000" to build a tie line from the water treatment plant to the Barney impound and onward to Barney. The COG is expected to prepare the application and also to seek a separate $500,000 grant for regional water solutions, Speaker 1 said. "There is $1,500,000,000 in available money, and currently only $100,000,000 of it has been issued out in grants," Speaker 1 said, urging the council that this was "an amazing thing."

Councilors asked whether tie-ins to other corridors (Mac or Hillsborough) were on hold; Speaker 1 clarified the Barney work does not halt other tie-in planning and that regional coordination is ongoing. Speaker 1 described Barney as a potential untapped raw-water source that could be "huge" for Yamhill.

What happens next: the COG will continue grant preparation, staff will advance preliminary engineering (a $200,000 grant for engineering was mentioned), and council will receive updates in future meetings and work sessions as applications progress.

Note: dollar figures and project descriptions are taken from council remarks in the meeting transcript; grant application status and award are pending and not recorded in this meeting.