Commission applies for credit card, continues work on Cottonwood Bridge

The Hill County Commission Thursday announced it is applying for a credit card with a $100,000 limit for use by Hill County employees.

Commissioner Diane McLean said they originally intend to pass a resolution to approve an application for a county credit card, but were told they didn’t need a resolution.

McLean said the credit card, which was discussed at last week’s business meeting, would have a $100,000 credit limit and its account would be accessible by herself, Hill County Commission Vice Chair Mark Peterson and Hill County Auditor Kathy Olson.

The issue has been pressed by some elected officials in the county who say they should have credit cards to use for expenses in their departments, particularly when they are traveling to meetings and so on.

Now, the officials have to pay out of their own pocket and seek reimbursement from the county. They requested cards so the charges go to the county, which can then make the payments on the cards out of the departments’ budgets.

Last week, the commissioners agreed to get one card for the county, with the intention to eventually approve more.

At their weekly business meeting Thursday the commission also created a budget to receive Montana Coal Endowment Program grant funds that will allow them to continue planning work on the replacement of the Cottonwood Bridge.

At a public meeting earlier this month, a representative of Great West Engineering said repairing the bridge at this point is impractical and the county is looking at a full replacement of the structure, one that would meet modern standards, bear more weight and just generally be better.

However the project has a multi-million dollar price tag, and while representatives from Great West and Bear Paw Development Corp. have expressed optimism that the project can and will be funded through one of the many federal programs set up to improve infrastructure. They also said the rules for those programs remain unclear, so it may be some time before they can be used.

In the meantime the county has been working on a Preliminary Engineering Report and a Bridge Capital Improvement Plan, which will make applications for grant funding more attractive and is what the $15,000 the county is receiving from MCEP will help fund.

At the meeting the commission also approved a two-year plan submitted to them by District 4 Human Resources Development Council, as well as a task order for Great West to create a Technical Narrative for the Beaver Creek Dam Tailwater project.

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Havre Daily News Managing Editor Tim Leeds contributed to this story.