Horseman Association to receive ARPA funds
WALLACE — One local business and three local groups recently submitted grant applications to the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for funds from the $2.5 million allocation of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund program (CSLFRF) authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The requests were considered and decided upon during a recent meeting between the BOCC and Shoshone County Grants Administrator Colleen Rosson.
Mountain Valley of Cascadia, the Ninemile Cemetery Association, the Shoshone County Horseman’s Association, and the Wallace Senior Drop-in Center all requested funds for various projects and upgrades to their facilities.
At Cascadia, a proposed $56,000 would help replace all of the windows inside the skilled nursing facility — which would subsequently aid the building in maintaining and controlling its temperatures.
The Ninemile Cemetery Association is looking for $45,000 to purchase several metal grave markers for the growing number of unmarked graves at the remote and historic cemetery.
Both of these requests were tabled so the BOCC could gather more information to make an educated decision on the request.
The Wallace Senior Drop-In Center has put a hold on its request in order to fine-tune the upgrades needed at its facility.
The BOCC did approve $164,000 for the Shoshone County Horseman’s Association (SCHA).
The plan is to use the funds to install a well at the facility up the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River near the Bumblebee Cutoff.
“This $164,000 is for everything to be completed out there,” Rosson explained. “They’ve been hosting a lot of youth activities and the 4-H camps, so they are bringing in a lot of people to the community. It serves the youth and it is a nonprofit, so it should be considered.”
Commissioner Chairman Jay Huber supported granting the funds, explaining how valuable of a resource the SCHA is and how the camps that go on up there are a benefit to the youth.
“We’ve been up there a couple of times for lunch at these camps, and it’s pretty impressive,” Huber said. “They recently had a play day up there and there were 300 kids. To me, anything that is good for the youth is good for us.”
With this approval, it brings the total dollar amount spent by the county to $1,589,075 of that $2.5 million allocation — with the SCHA joining Shoshone County Fire District No. 3, city of Kellogg, Clarkia Water and Sewer, East Shoshone County Water District, Murray Historical Society, city of Osburn, Shoshone County Crisis Resource Center, SCFD1 and Shoshone County Solid Waste Department as grantees.
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.