Commission discusses how to use millions in ARPA funds

The Hill County Commission, Havre Mayor Tim Solomon and representatives from the North Havre County Water District met with Susan Brurud of Bear Paw Development Corp. and Craig Erickson of Great West Engineering to discuss how the county can and should best use the funds it’s been allocated from the American Rescue Plan.

Among the plans discussed were improvements to the RSID 29 and 30 lift stations, upgrading the Milk River Levee, installing a new air handler and broadband in the Hill County Courthouse, addressing revenue loss from the past year at Beaver Creek Park due to the pandemic and North Havre’s waste water projects, as well as contributions to Box Elder and Hingham for their own projects.

Brurud laid out the money that was available to the county placing it in three categories, all of which operate and interact with each other differently.

The first category, which she called Bucket A, is the $3.2 million given directly to the county by the federal treasury. The second, which she called Bucket B, is the $1.2 million allocated to the county through the state via House Bill 632, funds that need to be allocated by December 2024 and spent by December 2026.

The last category, which she called Bucket C, is a pool of $177 million in competitive grants that all counties in the state can apply for using money from Buckets A and B as a match.

The commissioners spent the meeting working with Brurud to lay out preliminary plans for which buckets can be used to fund which projects and how to most effectively use the money available.

Brurud said the $3 million levee upgrade is the big project to worry about for Hill County.

The levee, which was completed in 1957, was designed to prevent destructive flooding that often devastated the area.

Havre and North Havre flooded fairly regularly, sometimes severely, before the levee system was completed.

However, after inspections in 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the levee did not meet their standards. Problems with the levee include structures being built too close or against the levee and trees growing on it.

If the levee isn’t certified by the Corps, people determined to be in a floodplain will be required to buy flood insurance, a significant financial hit for many in the community.

Brurud said because the project is already being worked on by the county, having already had a SWIF plan established, it will be a highly competitive project for funds from Bucket C and she feels confident that the county can use the estimated $800,000 in bonds from the flood district being set up for the levee to use as a match and get the rest of the project funded through the grants.

Brurud and Erickson said if a bond contract can’t be written up in time to use as a match, they can use funds from Buckets A and B for the match, funds that could later be replaced with the bonded $800,000 once it becomes available. They said this would allow the funds from Bucket A and B to be used for other projects the county is working on.

Brurud said the RSID 29 and 30 lift station project is also highly competitive for Bucket C funds because it has already had a PER, a preliminary engineering report, done, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed. She said projects that relate to public health and safety are given priority, so both the levee and the lift station projects have that going for them as well.

Erickson agreed that both of these projects are highly competitive, but he’s concerned because every county in the state is applying for the same money and they may have similarly important projects.

Michel Turville of the North Havre County Water District said the major project they’re working on would cost a total of $900,000 but they received $125,000, which they intend to use as a match for further funds, and would only need about $387,000 from Bucket A to fund their activities.

Brurud said Bucket A can also be used to pay the $1 million necessary to replace the courthouse’s air handler, the $10,000 to set up broadband, and $30,000 in revenue replacement for the park.

The group also discussed taking as much as $500,000 from Buckets A and B to provide to Hingham for its estimated $7 million waste water project, and $300,000 for Box Elder which it can us on whatever projects it is working on, including covering PERs and environmental reviews.

She said Hingham’s waste water project will likely involve resizing local lagoons and extensive pipe replacement which is why it has such a high price tag, and why Hingham is likely to put up all their ARPA money and whatever they can get from Bucket C to fund as much of the project as possible.

During the meeting there was some confusion regarding how matching for Bucket C works.

Erickson said despite not being a part of HB 632 the state has made it clear that they want to see one-to-one matches on the competitive funds, but Brurud said counties can put up all of their allocated funds for a 25 percent match, allowing them to essentially apply for three times the money they are allocated.

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said that is likely what Hingham will do to try to pay for its massive waste water project.

The confusion at the meeting was specifically regarding whether that included Bucket A or A and B, which Brurud said is not clear at this time.

She said the Department of Commerce will be taking comment on the matter through Friday, and she encouraged people, especially in rural communities, to make their voices heard on the subject.

She also said a second round of ARPA funding for projects that haven’t been planned enough to get funds from this round but may be further along in the near future and everyone should keep that in mind as well.