First round of ARPA grants announced

WALLACE –– The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved several different grant applications on Wednesday morning following a review of the applications with the county’s grant administrator Colleen Rosson.

The grants are funded 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).

Rosson, whose job it is to ensure the funds are used in compliance with the regulatory and statutory requirements provided by the United States Department of the Treasury, has been busy reviewing the applications and getting them in order to be presented to the BOCC.

The funds must be used in way that fit the following criteria:

Replace lost public sector revenue; Respond to the far-reaching public health and negative economic impacts of the pandemic; Provide premium pay for essential workers; Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

Eight applications were discussed on Wednesday morning – with three of them getting full approval and one partial.

The Murray Historical Society (MHS), City of Osburn, and Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 (SCFD1) all received their full requested funds, while the Shoshone County Crisis Resource Center (SCCRC) received partial funding.

In Murray, the MHS asked for $20,000 to be used for the purposes of repairs and restoration work for the Murray Courthouse.

After the roof collapsed during the heavy winter of 1996, the building was rebuilt – but now, after 25 years the decking that makes up the board walk around the building has become rotten and has to be replaced before the building can be used by the public.

The money will cover the cost of the materials as well as the work to get the deck rebuilt.

The City of Osburn has been busy as of late, working on a full restoration of the Lions Park on West Mullan Avenue.

They were awarded $50,000 by the county to go toward their project.

The 57,000 sq-ft park has slowly decayed over the years, but Osburn city officials have taken a renewed interest in restoring the park and making it an attraction for the rest of Shoshone County.

Their plan, along with a new state of the art outdoor fitness park, is to construct new playground equipment, a basketball court, picnic areas, restroom facilities, and expand parking for the park in hopes of turning it into a potential destination venue for outdoor events.

SCFD1 is using their funds for a far more serious, but incredibly important project.

Under the leadership of fire chief John Miller, his plan is to fund a Mass Casualty Incident Preparedness project that will be available for all local law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical service professionals to attend.

After being asked by the Wallace School District how they would respond to a situation similar to the one recently in Uvalde, Texas, Miller got the ball rolling for this training.

The funds will be used to pay for the trainers, their lodging, as well as the training for those who wish to attend the 2-day conference – funds will also be used to purchase the base gear that would be needed to respond to an event like the one in Texas.

The SCCRC had asked for a little over $120,000, with the goals of covering two years worth of bills at their Pinehurst facility, providing continued services like victim advocacy, and to help with the costs of replacing the carpet in their Wallace office.

The Commissioners have a few follow-up questions that they would like to ask the SCCRC administration, but they approved $20,000 for the carpet replacement.

Rosson explained how the process can be an arduous one, and that the money – which seems like a lot when you look at the lump sum – doesn’t go as far when you start divvying it up.

“$2.5 million in the big picture does not go far,” Rosson said. “Our intent with these once in a generation funds is to responsibly help local organizations in ways that benefit our residents and economy. In considering the requests we received, our intent was to help fund those projects that may be out of reach currently, would not create a new fiscal burden and have a long-term impact for our communities and residents. I am excited to see the round one recipient projects move forward and I am honored to be a small part of helping these amazing people and organizations see them to fruition.”

For the other entities that may have submitted grant applications, but didn’t see their requests approved – they were not denied, but much like the situation with the SCCRC, the BOCC would like to ask some additional questions and get some more information concerning their grant applications.