Trails funding application period opens

Groups in Flathead County considering seeking grant money to build pedestrian and bicycle trails now can obtain information for this year’s funding cycle on the county’s website.

New requirements are in place this year for any trails project funded in part by the county’s allocation of community transportation enhancement program funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation, funneled through the Montana Department of Transportation.

The application deadline is Oct. 1. That deadline will hold every year.

Local groups who seek money from the county must pay 13.42 percent of the project cost. Grant funds pay the other 86.58 percent.

Sponsoring groups must provide the county with a preliminary design report that includes a cost estimate and the scope of the project. The sponsors must show they have easements for a new trail and agree to raise money for a project maintenance fund and plan for routine maintenance of the trail.  

Once a sponsoring group submits an application, the paperwork is to be reviewed by the county planning staff for content and adequacy. Assuming all conditions are met, applications then are forwarded to the Parks Board for review and funding recommendations to the commissioners.

Employees in the county planning department will submit 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. It’s a three-year effort from the date applications are due until a project is expected to be finished, under the new policy.

To find the new policy online, go to the planning office website at http://flathead.mt.gov/planning_zoning/ and look under “Important Notices” on the main page.