The Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office is working on a set of new guidelines for proposed trail projects, which officials say would be a policy designed to keep the county from incurring unnecessary costs.
According to county Planning Director BJ Grieve, the new guidelines would apply to trails funded through the federal Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP).
Typically under CTEP, a county would pony up 13 percent of the project’s cost, while CTEP funded the remaining 87 percent. Flathead County does not provide for new trail funding in its budget, Grieve said, so private groups are responsible for providing the 13 percent match.
However, if the private group cannot reach its fundraising goals, the county is left holding the bag, Grieve said.
Since Flathead County is the entity that actually applies for CTEP funds, the federal program recognizes the county as the true applicant, and is therefore responsible for the 13 percent in funds needed for the federal match.
“If the group doesn’t come up with money, then the taxpayers are on the hook for something they never really committed to in the first place,” Grieve said.
With this in mind, Grieve said the Flathead County Commission tasked the planning office with finding a better way to vet proposed trail projects. As part of the new guidelines, Grieve said there could be a requirement for an interested group to already have a certain percentage of matching funds when they apply.
That percentage could range anywhere from 50 to 125, he said; the former would show that the group has potential to raise cash, while the latter would ensure the county wouldn’t be left financially responsible.
“The end result is, I’m a user of trails, I’m a lover of trails,” Grieve said. “I also have a responsibility to the public to follow the commission’s guidance and be really fiscally responsible on this issue of trail construction.”
Four trail projects were accepted under the current way of administering CTEP: the Sam Bibler Willow Glen trail, the Swan River Trail, the Lakeside Blacktail trail and the Red Bridge project in Columbia Falls.
Grieve said the current projects would not be subject to the new policies since they were created under the current way of administering CTEP funds, but the planning office will work with the groups behind these projects to avoid overages and to develop maintenance plans.
The Red Bridge project, which proposes restoring the bridge spanning the Flathead River, came under the Flathead County Commission’s scrutiny in May. During a meeting, the commission expressed concern about the project’s perceived rising cost, despite already having allocated $500,000 in CTEP funds toward it.
According to minutes from the commissioners’ office, the commissioners were told in May that the latest estimated cost for the Red Bridge restoration had risen from $850,000 to $1.9 million.
So, the minutes state, the commission gave First Best Place – the private group responsible for the Red Bridge project – four months to come up with the project’s actual cost based on engineering reports.
But according to First Best Place Executive Director Barry Conger, the cost for the project has not changed. He said the original construction cost was $840,000, and his group committed to raising $1.2 million in case costs rose.
“The budget we’re working from is essentially the same from the beginning,” Conger said in an interview last week.
Conger said the commission had incorrect information at the May meeting, and the $1.9 million estimate was one of the first bids they had received for the project but it was re-engineered at a lower cost.
Revamping the Red Bridge, Conger said, would benefit the county, and he said the recent budgeting discussions have been frustrating.
“The commissioners have a hazard and a liability on their hands with this bridge,” Conger said. “We’re a community that says we want to help you turn it from a liability into an asset.”
So far, Conger said the project has raised $100,000 in in-kind donations toward the bridge, as well as $50,000 pledged in construction work from the city of Columbia Falls. He said the group is searching for major donors and working on grants.
Conger said he expects to have a detailed report for the commissioners in mid-September.
Another major piece of building trails is the cost of maintenance, Grieve said, and it can be a thorny issue between the groups proposing the trails and the county once the trail is complete.
Grieve said the planning office hopes to have a draft of the new trail policy before the commissioners within a couple weeks.