Engineer says not yet affected by shutdown

The federal government shut down Dec. 22 amid a failure to reach agreement on a budget.

According to CNN, 380,000 federal employees have been furloughed, and another 420,000 are working without pay. The shutdown does not affect government agencies that are considered 'essential.” These include patrolling federal prisons, immigration enforcement, inspecting meat and poultry, and the issuance of weather forecasts. The post office is not affected, because it funds its operations through sales instead of tax dollars.

At the crux of the matter is a disagreement between members of Congress and the president about whether to spend $5 billion to extend a wall along the country's southern border.

Fairfield City Engineer Melanie Carlson said the shutdown has not affected her operations … but it could, depending on how long it lasts. Renovation of the city's wastewater treatment facility is being funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture, which is affected by the shutdown. Carlson spoke to the USDA employee handling Fairfield's project just before the shutdown began.

'The project is not getting held up, and the contractors will still work and get paid,” Carlson said. 'The only thing is that if there were a major change in the project, we would have to wait for the federal government to reopen before continuing.”

Carlson said the city would have to wait if it received a change order altering the scope of the project, particularly if it increased the cost.

'The USDA employee told me on Dec. 20 that she was being furloughed, and she said I wouldn't hear from her again until the budget deal is approved,” Carlson said.