BOCC approves $277K in ARPA monies

WALLACE — Another handful of grants were recently approved by the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC).

The city of Kellogg, Shoshone County Solid Waste and Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 (SCFD1) all received funds through the $2.5 million Shoshone County allocation of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund program (CSLFRF) authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The city of Kellogg has been working on a new concession stand at the city-owned Teeters Field, and with rising construction costs, the price tag has grown substantially beyond the city’s budget.

They requested and were approved for $70,000 which will be put toward the new stand. The concrete foundation for the stand was donated and poured by Tony Silva’s concrete company Procrete — and the hope is that with the additional funds from the county that a full service concession stand/restroom facility can be built, complete with ADA compliant features.

A 2020 bid for the entire project came in at nearly $250,000, but with the donations and additional funding Kellogg city officials expect to be able to cover the costs.

“I think this is a very worthwhile cause, even for a guy from Wallace,” said Commissioner John Hansen, a Wallace High School graduate.

Shoshone County Grant Administrator Colleen Rosson then explained how SCFD1 had requested additional funds to cover a few more unexpected expenses associated with its recent active shooter training.

SCFD1 had already received $70,000 in CSLFRF funding last month in order to make sure that the training could be paid for, but as the list of folks who wanted to participate in the training grew — so did the cost.

The BOCC didn’t blink when they heard the request and granted them an additional $7,000.

“This training is invaluable,” Hansen said. “If there was any type of scenario that needed to be tested, it's what’s been going on locally and in the big cities. I would want to have somebody who has the training to take care of our kids and older people.”

SCFD1 also trimmed costs everywhere it could — reducing total costs by $14,000, so the additional funds really just ensure that it doesn't end up holding the bag for a training that was used by so many different local and regional agencies.

“This is good use of this money,” said Commissioner Jay Huber. “These guys are all first responders. They run in when everyone else runs out.”

Shoshone County Solid Waste is receiving $200,000 for its new Air Curtain Burner.

Air curtain burners were designed principally as a pollution control device for open burning. The primary objective of an air curtain machine is to reduce the particulate matter (PM), or smoke, which results from burning clean wood waste.

Having one of these at the transfer station will save a great deal of transportation costs and allow on-site disposal of waste that is in compliance with the air quality requirements.

The total budget expected for the burner is approximately $395,000. According to Rosson, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is contributing $155,000 to the project which will also require quite a bit of the site prep. The burner was delivered, but the permitting will not be approved until the end of this year.

The burner will save the cost of chipping and transport of the woody waste to the burn site. It will also take out the need to burn the waste, decreasing the air pollutants.

The county is still taking grant request applications.

For more information or to request a project proposal form, email Colleen Rosson at crosson@co.shoshone.id.us.