The Marshall County Council members gave their support to match funds toward a $1 million Community Crossings grant for work on the county’s roads and bridges. Even though the county is eligible for a 75/25 grant match split this year it was suggested to officials that the application include project plans in the $1.3 to $1.4 million range in order to capture that full $1 million match.
Marshall County would allocate $400,000 toward the state’s grant match.
The council will approve and sign a commitment letter at their next meeting on Monday, July 10 to include in the grant application that is due Friday, July 14.
Commissioner Kurt Garner said there are plenty of projects to include in the grant application that would total $1.4 million.
“In our 2017 road program, there are projects that would qualify for this grant,” said Garner. “There are some projects outside of that 2017 road program that are also considered high priority and economic development kind of projects. It’s any number of things – it’s got to align with the existing road plan, benefit, need, traffic volume, and public safety. So there’s a lot of criteria that’s involved in that and not just economic activity.”
The funds to be used toward the match must be allocated for highway use.
Highway Supervisor Jason Peters said the county has much more competition for the Community Crossings grant this year. Last year the match split was 50/50 and now smaller municipalities can afford to apply with a smaller grant match.
In addition to the $400,000 grant match, the county commissioners are asking the council for an additional $700,000 to help turn around reclaimed roads this year that were on the plan for next year. In total, the council will consider $1.1 million which includes grant match funds and money to take care of reclaimed roads.
If the county is awarded the Community Crossing grant, the projects wouldn’t begin until next year. The projects should be under contract within a year in order to spend the awarded funds.
Council member Jon VanVactor said that the county is making progress in improving the conditions of the roads with the highway department’s effort in using pug material and the process of double chip seal to preserve roads.
The council will consider funding the requests at their next meeting on July 10.
