Swan River trail project funded
The Flathead County Commissioners allocated $300,000 last week toward part of a walk and bike trail project along Swan River Road in Bigfork.
This will fund a mile of the 6.5-mile trail that has been an ongoing project of the Bigfork Rotary Club. The completed trail will stretch from the Wild Mile to Swan River School to provide a safe recreational walking path.
The funds come from the Community Transportation Enhancement Program, which is administered by the state to strengthen non-motorized transportation.
The county is allocated CTEP funds each year based on population. Prior to the Aug. 4 meeting, the county had a total of $911,000 in unallocated CTEP funds, including the $341,000 the county received in 2010, Planner Alex Hogle said. The county initially had more than $1.2 million in CTEP funds but some was already allocated to projects such as the Sam Bibler Trail and to support the cities.
The county requested letters with proposals for use of the funds by a June 1 deadline and received three, the Swan River trail, a trail along Blacktail Road in Lakeside and the Red Bridge Project in the Columbia Falls area. A review team from the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office brought a recommendation based on its review of the proposals to the commissioners in early July that included funding two of the three projects, leaving out the Red Bridge Project. The commissioners wanted more time to think about the proposals and postponed their decision until last week.
Questions of fairness and adequacy of the committee's review had been raised since one of the projects, the Red Bridge, was excluded.
"The validity has been put into question," Hogle said.
In looking into the issue, Hogle found that safety is a main priority for CTEP funds as well as promoting the use of non-motorized traffic.
Hogle said he consulted with the Montana Department of Transportation, the state agency in charge of the CTEP funds, and found that it does not have specific requirements for how local governments prioritize projects.
A few years ago a packet was created by MDT that the office had used in the past. The Flathead County Trails Plan is not yet officially adopted, so the packet from MDT was all reviewers had to base their recommendations on. Hogle said he compared criteria the committee used to what had been used in the past and they were similar.
Commissioner Joe Brenneman said he was not ready to go with the recommendations of the committee, saying that he had concerns about funding two of three projects when the money could be spread to all three. Commissioner Jim Dupont agreed.
"There have been no CTEP funds spent in that section of the community," Dupont said of the Red Bridge Project. "I don't know why we can't more evenly split the money."
Commissioners unanimously approved a proposal by Brenneman to split the funds between the three projects with $300,000 each to the Swan River and Blacktail trails and $250,000 to the Red Bridge Project.
The Red Bridge Project's request has been for $500,000 over two years. Brenneman said this would be given with the understanding that if its Safe Route to School grant goes through, the funds are needed and the county receives $300,000 or more in CTEP funds next year, Red Bridge would receive an additional $250,000.
WHAT'S NEXT
The funds are now allocated but will not be released until the projects begin. The next step for the Swan River project involves completing a CTEP application to submit to MDT. It must receive approval and an MDT notice to proceed. The planning office will be assisting the groups with this process. It can take up to six months between submitting an application and the actual start of design and construction.
The other work to be done includes raising the 14 percent match required for the CTEP funds, which means about $40,000 in matching funds, said Ed Nolde, who serves as the chair of the trail committee and is the past-president of the Rotary Club. The club has already raised $10,000 and can count in-kind donations such as easements or when volunteers clean brush or do grading work. The Rotary already built a half mile of the trail.
The students at Swan River School helped to fundraise for the project in May with a fun run. The students received pledges and walked or ran up and down the existing walkways. They raised roughly $3,000, Nolde said.
"We certainly appreciate any financial support," Nolde said.
The Rotary will raise additional funds through its October barn dance and at an event already planned for Sept. 1 to support the trail project as well as local scholarships and Rotary International's fight against polio.
The event will be held at Eagle Bend Golf Club. Rotary will be selling 1,000 numbered golf balls which the fire department will drop off the end of its highest ladder over the practice green. Any balls that end up in the hole after the 6 p.m. drop will earn their owners $5,000. The event will include an after party.
Balls can be purchased at a variety of locations including the Jug Tree, Nancy O's Designs, Flathead Bank, First Interstate Bank, Rocky Mountain Bank and Nolde's office.
Costs are $20 per ball or three balls for $50. Participants do not need to be present to win, but Nolde said it's worth coming out for the party to follow.
For more information, call Nolde at 837-5675.