Engagement Opportunities

 We understand that questions and unique situations can arise. The TDEC ARP team is open and available to assist all grantees outside of formal engagement opportunities below. Please email TDEC.ARP@tn.gov with any questions, comments, or requests for one-on-one meetings.


TDEC ARP Grant Monthly Town Hall Series

Overview

TDEC is excited to announce our ARP Grant Monthly Town Halls! These virtual sessions will focus on key information for grant awardees, including:

  • ARP Grant Status Updates and Timeline
  • Procurement Review Updates and Requirements
  • Reimbursement Review Updates and Requirements
  • Q&A

We encourage grant administrators, project owners, and project stakeholders to attend and share this information with anyone involved in the implementation process or affiliated stakeholders to attend these sessions. Suggested participants include, but are not limited to:

  • Grant’s city or county mayor, grant administration team, legal signee, and finance representative
  • Utilities participating in projects under the application
  • Any partner entities
  • Consulting firm(s) interested in participating in the grant implementation process 

Upcoming Town Hall

The ARP Grant Monthly Town Hall series will be virtual. The date and time for the next town hall will be announced soon.

You need to register for workshop to receive a calendar invitation and submit questions in advance. We will do our best to answer questions live but may follow-up with individuals after the workshop. Registration closes the morning of the workshop, and the calendar invitation will be sent after registration closes. 

Materials from Past Engagement Opportunities

Past Materials

Past Dates

  • Tuesday, October 29th | 2:00 - 3:00 pm CT
  • Thursday, September 26th | 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm CT
  • Friday, August 9th | 11:00 am-12:30 pm CT
  • Thursday, June 13th | 1:00-2:00 pm CT
  • Thursday, May 9th | 1:00-2:00 pm CT
  • Thursday, April 11th | 1:00-2:00 pm CT
  • Thursday, March 7th | 3:00-4:30 pm CT 
  • Thursday, February 8th | 3:00-3:30pm CT
wr_srf_dw-plans-review-workshop-announcement

SRF Drinking Water Plans Review Workshops

  • Wednesday, March 20th, 2024 (Jackson, TN)
  • Thursday, March 21st, 2024 (Knoxville, TN)
  • Thursday, March 28th, 2024 (Murfreesboro, TN)

TDEC ARP Non-Competitive Grant Milestones Q&A

In the Town Hall on March 7, TDEC announced new milestones that non-competitive grantees are expected to meet to demonstrate making sufficient progress on grant contracts and projects. These milestones are described in the slides from the March Town Hall.

Understanding that many grantees may have concerns about meeting the new critical milestones due to various challenges, TDEC hosted a virtual Q&A on March 14th. There were no slides presented at the virtual Q&A.

Grants Management System (GMS) Procurement & Reimbursement Virtual Workshop

TDEC hosted a virtual Grants Management System (GMS) Demo to walk through the procurement and reimbursement functionalities on GMS.

Competitive Grant Workshops

TDEC hosted virtual workshops for each of the three grant programs to discuss the grant application process for potential applicants. Please find the recordings and slides from the workshops below.

The workshops were held on the following days and times:

Regionalization 

Water Reuse 

Resource Protection 

June 6th, 2:00-4:00pm CT

June 14th, 9:30-11:30am CT

June 7th, 12:00-2:00pm CT

June 15th, 9:30-11:30am CT

June 8th, 9:30-11:30am CT

June 13th, 2:00-4:00pm CT

Competitive Grant Webinars

TDEC hosted two webinars in April to provide a better understanding of the grant programs to potential applicants. These sessions will take place Tuesday, April 11th from 2:00-3:00 PM CT and Wednesday, April 12th from 10:00-11:00 AM CT. These sessions were identical.

Non-Competitive Grant Workshops

TDEC is excited to have hosted our next series of ARP Non-Competitive Grant Workshops! These workshops focused on key information for grant awardees, including The ARP Non-Competitive grant contract, implementation guidance, reimbursement, procurement, reporting requirements, and more!

The dates and locations for the workshops were:

Workshop Location Date Time
Jackson, TN Thursday, February 23rd 1:00-5:00 pm CT
Bartlett, TN Friday, February 24th 8:30 am-12:30 pm CT
Chattanooga, TN Wednesday, March 1st 9:00 am-1:00 pm ET
Columbia, TN Thursday, March 2nd 1:00-5:00 pm CT
Murfreesboro, TN Friday, March 3rd 9:00 am-1:00 pm CT
Knoxville, TN Tuesday, March 7th 1:00-5:00 pm ET
Cookeville, TN Wednesday, March 8th 8:30 am-12:30 pm CT
Kingsport, TN Friday, March 10th 9:00 am-1:00 pm ET
Virtual Workshop Thursday, March 16th

1:00-5:00 pm CT

The virtual workshop was recorded and made available online on this page. Workshop materials, including the presentation, are also available online.

We encourage all grant applicants and affiliated personnel to attend these workshops, even if the application is not fully approved or under contract. However, for those who feel they may not be far enough along in the process, one additional virtual workshop covering the same material will be held in the spring. Details will be released when available.

Please reach out to tdec.arp@tn.gov with any questions. The TDEC State Water Infrastructure Grants Team looks forward to seeing you there! 

TDEC hosted an Engineering Document Submittals Virtual Workshop to explain best practices for submitting engineering documents, such as engineering reports and construction documents, to TDEC for review and approval. It included critical information for engineers and applicants pursuing drinking water and wastewater projects.

In anticipation of ARP State Water Infrastructure Grant (SWIG) Program Non-Competitive Grant application approvals and subsequent contracting, TDEC hosted a series of Non-Competitive Grant Applicant Workshops in December (December 14, 15, and 19) 2022. Only those individuals associated with an ARP Non-Competitive Grant application (e.g., applicant, city or county mayor, grant administrator, finance representative, and contract legal signee, utilities participating in projects on the application, partner entities, and consulting firm(s) interested in participating in the bid process or those that have already been competitive procured) needed to attend these workshops.

Please Note: The recorded presentation misspeaks about "baby Davis bacon" compliance. ARP legislation states that Davis-Bacon applies for contracts greater than $10,000,000, not less than. The guidance also states that although you do not have a Davis- Bacon clause in contracts funded by ARP for less than $10M, if you combine ARP funds with other federal funds on prime construction contracts above $2,000, Davis- Bacon may be triggered if the rule is applicable for that source of funding.

TDEC hosted a virtual session (via WebEx) on Friday, October 14 from 10-11 CT/11-12 ET to go over some Frequently Asked Questions and respond to questions live. 

TAUD, in partnership with TDEC will be hosting a fourth round of training workshops on the American Rescue Plan.  With most systems having completed the Tennessee Infrastructure Scorecard 2.0, focus will be given to the application process for utilities, counties, and cities looking to receive funding through the ARP Grant.  Personnel will have the opportunity to ask questions to the TDEC and TAUD team and will be given an overview of the Grant Management Systems portal.

This class will be held in person and through webinar. Interested individuals may register online.

Webinar details will be sent to each registrant.

Date Location Time
7/26/22 Lexington Utilities
180 Maple Street, Lexington
10am-12pm
7/28/22 TAUD Training Station
840 Commercial Court, Murfreesboro
10am-12pm
8/2/22 First Utility District of Knox County
122 Durwood Rd, Knoxville
10am-12pm

TDEC hosted an update and Q&A session covering the ARP Non-Competitive Grant on Thursday, July 7 from 9-10 am CT.

TDEC held a virtual session on Wednesday, May 4 from 1-2:30 pm CT/2-3:30 pm ET to provide a demonstration and walkthrough of the ARP non-competitive grant application on TDEC’s Grant Management System (GMS). The GMS is the platform that applicants will use to submit their non-competitive grant application. There is no registration required to attend the walkthrough. Please see the information below to access the training session.

TDEC is pleased to host workshops covering the non-competitive grant manual and application. The workshops will cover the grant manual (updated 04/18/2022), grant application requirements and the application review process, and include a demonstration of the grant management system. There will be plenty of opportunity provided to workshop attendees to ask questions. All workshops will present the same information.

These workshops will be held in person around the state to promote engagement. If you are unable to attend in person, TDEC will host one virtual workshop. You may find date, time, and location information for the workshops below. Please register for the workshop that best fits your schedule and location.

Attendance is encouraged but not required to submit a grant application for the non-competitive grant program.

April 2022 Workshop Details

In Person Workshops

Date Location Facility Address Time
April 4, 2022
(Monday)
Cookeville Upper Cumberland Development District 1104 England Dr.
Cookeville, TN 38506 
12:30 pm - 4:30 pm CDT
April 6, 2022
(Wednesday) 
Columbia Columbia State Community College
Clement Humanities Building
(main campus)
1665 Hampshire Pike
Columbia, TN
12:30 pm -
4:30 pm CDT
April 7, 2022
(Thursday)
Clarksville Austin Peay State University
Morgan University Center
601 College St.
Clarksville, TN
37044
8:30 am -
12:30 pm CDT
April 14, 2022 (Thursday)
Murfreesboro Fleming Training Center 2022 Blanton Dr.
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
12:00 pm -
4:00 pm CDT
Date Location Facility Address Time
April 4, 2022
(Monday)
Morristown TCAT TCAT Morristown
821 West Louise Ave
Morristown, TN 37813
8:00 am -
12:00 pm EDT 
April 5, 2022
(Tuesday)
Knoxville Pellissippi State Community College
Goins Building Auditorium
10915 Hardin Valley Road
Knoxville, TN 37933
1:00 pm -
5:00 pm EDT
April 6, 2022
(Wednesday)
Johnson City Boones Creek Christian Church 305 Christian Church Road
Johnson City, TN 37615 
8:00 am -
12:00 pm EDT
April 12, 2022 (Tuesday)
Chattanooga Chattanooga State
Health Science Center Building
Classroom # 1087
4501 Amnicola Hwy
Chattanooga, TN
8:00 am -
12:00 pm EDT
Date Location Facility Address Time
April 11, 2022
(Monday)
Bartlett TCAT 3375 Appling Rd
Bartlett, TN 38133
12:30 pm -
4:30 pm
CDT
April 12, 2022
(Tuesday) 
Jackson Jackson Energy Authority
(JEA)
JEA Training Center
320 Highway 45 By-Pass
Jackson, TN  38301
8:00 am -
12:00 pm
CDT 

Virtual Workshop

Date Location Time
April 19, 2022
(Tuesday)
Virtual 12:30 - 4:30 pm CDT

Tennessee Association of Utility Districts E-mail Notification

TAUD, in partnership with TDEC will be hosting training workshops on the Tennessee Infrastructure Scorecard ver. 2.0. The Scorecard is designed to benchmark technical, operational, managerial, and financial performance of utility systems. Results from the Scorecard identify critical needs in several areas including asset management, water, wastewater, and stormwater. Instructors will provide a comprehensive review of how to complete a Scorecard and interpret the results. We will also cover the advantages of completing a Scorecard, including how results can help demonstrate infrastructure needs for loans or grants.

Attendees should prepare to work in class on their utility’s scorecards. Attendees should bring a laptop computer to work through the online scorecard. Please limit attendees to two per utility.

In addition to in-person, all classes will be offered virtually.
Webinar details will be sent to each registrant.

Date Location Time
2/8/22 Dyersburg - Professional Development Center
305 College Street, Dyersburg
10am-3pm
2/10/22 TAUD Training Station
840 Commercial Court, Murfreesboro
10am-3pm
2/15/22 Morristown Utilities Training Center
1087 Doctor M.L.K. Jr Pkwy, Morristown
10am-3pm

TDEC webinar series covering the Water Infrastructure Investment Plan. TDEC presented the plan, engaged in Q&A, and provided updates. Webinars were recorded and posted below.

Tennessee Association of Utility Districts E-mail Notification - December 3, 3021

Tennessee Infrastructure Scorecard Workshop Announcement

TAUD, in partnership with TDEC will be hosting training workshops on the Tennessee Infrastructure Scorecard ver. 2.0. The Scorecard is designed to benchmark technical, operational, managerial, and financial performance of utility systems. Results from the Scorecard identify critical needs in several areas including asset management, water, wastewater, and stormwater. Instructors will provide a comprehensive review of how to complete a Scorecard and interpret the results. We will also cover the advantages of completing a Scorecard, including how results can help demonstrate infrastructure needs for loans or grants.

Attendees should prepare to work in class on their utility’s scorecards. Attendees should bring a laptop computer to work through the online scorecard. Please limit attendees to two per utility.

In addition to in-person, all classes will be offered virtually.

  • 12/14/2021 - Jackson Energy Authority, 320 Highway 45 By-Pass, Jackson - 1:00-5:00 PM CST
  • 12/15/2021 - TAUD Training Station, 840 Commercial Court, Murfreesboro - 1:00-5:00 PM CST
  • 12/16/2021 - Lenoir City Center 7698 Creekwood Park Blvd. Lenoir City - 1:00-5:00 PM EST

 

 

This Page Last Updated: October 29, 2024 at 3:06 PM