The Biddeford City Council gave preliminary authorization Tuesday to pay $225,000 to Godbout Plumbing & Heating for renovation work to the second floor of the Seeds of Hope homeless shelter, expanding the shelter’s capacity.

The city was left scrambling to find funding after losing a $1.2 million federal that was supposed to pay for the work.

City Manager Jim Bennett said the city lost the grant due to a clerical error related to the contractor doing extra work outside the scope of the original grant application.

The city had allocated $400,000 to Godbout for work done so far. The $225,000 the council approved Tuesday, Bennett said, represents the remainder of the current bill. 

The money, Bennett said, will largely come from funding shifted from other state and federal grants.

“Everybody’s on board in terms of the need and the goal that’s been achieved but trying to be able to make sure that where we’re moving money complies with HUD regulations and all the different rules that you have from the federal and state government has made it challenging,” he said.

The council is expected to give final approval Jan. 21. From there, officials said, the focus will shift to the remaining renovations.  

The initial grant money was supposed to cover construction of a larger, industrial-scale kitchen on the shelter’s first floor.

That work, according to city records, could cost as much as $550,000. Mayor Martin Grohman has said he and the city are committed to getting that work done, too, and that the city will be seeking more grant funding to cover it.