County applying new rules to trail grant requests

New rules are in place for developing recreation trails with money allocated to Flathead County.

County commissioners last week adopted a new policy related to the county’s annual allocation of Community Transportation Enhancement Program dollars.

The rules are in effect regarding a request from the city of Columbia Falls for $57,410 to pay unexpected costs after the Third Avenue East bike path estimates came in higher than city officials had expected.

Commissioners directed county Planning Director BJ Grieve to respond to the request from Columbia Falls City Manager Susan Nicosia. The new policy has a provision that allows the county to consider giving any of its unused trails funds to one of the cities or another qualifying government entity.

Columbia Falls can apply for funding and the application will go through the process, Grieve said.

However, Grieve pointed out, the county hasn’t been notified of the dollar amount it will receive for the trails program this year. Typically, Flathead County gets about $300,000 per year, but the amount fluctuates. And two county trails projects already are in the works this year.

Grieve reminded commissioners that money the county receives from the state, via the U.S. Transportation Department, always has been dedicated to rural Flathead County. The three incorporated cities in the county get their own money from the state for trails projects.

“The commission is very interested in working with the city of Columbia Falls and entertaining these type of requests,” Grieve said, “but they are also conscious of the number of groups in rural Flathead County who are interested in transportation enhancement projects in their communities and are interested in having first crack at the county’s allocation.”

The new policy gives the county “a much more rigorous framework to make CTEP more predictable,” Grieve told commissioners.

No change was made to the percentages paid by each entity. The county’s contribution of CTEP dollars won’t total more than 86.58 percent of the total project cost. The sponsoring entity must pay the remaining 13.42 percent.

The county’s new policy calls for a 36-month funding cycle for trails projects. Applications from sponsor groups are due each Oct. 1 beginning in 2012.

When a group submits an application, it must include an explanation of the trail plan and a preliminary engineering report containing an estimate of the total project cost. The cost of that preliminary engineering report must be borne by the requesting entity.

Groups also must provide evidence that easements exist for the proposed trail.

Other new requirements are that the sponsor group acknowledge up front that it must raise half of its share of the project cost prior to the county commissioners signing an agreement to proceed with the project.

Sponsor groups also now must agree to raise money for a project maintenance fund, provide a plan to continue fundraising for that account and develop a plan for routine trail maintenance.

A main factor in the county’s development of the new policy for trails development was the absence of dollars to maintain trails once they’re built. Commissioners repeatedly have said they won’t allocate tax dollars to maintain trails.

For too long, the assumption has been that if a project cost more than originally expected, the county would take care of extra costs, Commissioner Dale Lauman said.

Likewise, everyone expects the county to maintain the trails once constructed, he said.

Under the new plan, groups can “take pride of ownership and do those things necessary to make it an attractive trail,” Lauman said.

Applications are to be reviewed by the county planning staff. Assuming all conditions are met, applications are then forwarded to the parks board for review and funding recommendations to the commissioners.

Employees in the county planning department will submit the formal project applications to the Montana Department of Transportation.

If approved by the state, the county and the state would enter an agreement for a project on April 1 of each year. Bids would be sought for the work in July, followed by survey, design and environment work occurring between October — a year after the application was submitted — through July. A contract would be awarded in July of the second year of the process and construction would occur that same year with final completion slated for the following October. All total, it’s a three-year effort from the date applications are due until a project is expected to be finished, under the new policy.

Talking with commissioners, Grieve acknowledged that the county is asking for a lot up front, compared to past trails application processes. The new policy ensures the sponsor groups know exactly what their responsibilities are and what the county will contribute toward a project. That should avoid cost overruns that no one has the money to pay for, he said.

“Trails that people love and want to help maintain are successful trails,” Grieve said.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.