The city is receiving $19.47 million in American Rescue Plan funds and for months, staff has been discussing how to use those funds with the City Commission.

In multiple public meetings, staff asked commissioners for their priorities on how to use the funds and during their Jan. 4 work session, staff will be presenting their proposed priority list of potential projects.

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The city has been discussing opening a public grant process to allow community entities to apply for some of the funds for community needs. In October the city asked for public comment on the proposed application and process.

In a December memo, City Manager Greg Doyon told commissioners that he was holding off issuing the public grant applications until everyone was updated on the ARPA developments and “consensus was reached on a few pending aspects of the application process.”

He asked the commission to consider whether they wanted to cap the community based projects amount available and whether they wanted a timeframe on receiving applications.

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Doyon said that once those details are decided, the city will release the application to the public.

Doyon told commissioners in his memo that Great Falls is in a different boat than Billings or Missoula since the city did not lose revenue overall based on the calculations and guidelines from the U.S. Department of Treasury. That means Great Falls has less flexibility in how to use its ARPA funds under the federal rules, Doyon wrote.

But there are some specific city funds that did lose revenue and need to be replenished.

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He’s recommending that the city use CARES Act funds, which are unrestricted, for that purpose.

Doyon said the funds of concern are:

“If we do not replenished these funds, there are several potential bad outcomes including 1) no undesignated fund balance for emergency use 2) no contingency 3) will likely require general fund subsidy 4) may require fee increases to offset loses. We’ll visit more, but it is likely that I will be seeking permission from the commission to replenish the funds with CARES $ in the near future,” Doyon wrote in his memo.

City continuing discussion on how to use $19.47 million in COVID relief funds

Tom Hazen, the city’s grant manager, also sent a memo to the commission in December with a list of recommended projects that are eligible for ARPA funds.

“The projects listed here are a prioritization of projects that have been discussed by the commission and, I believe, reflect the best interests of the Great Falls community as reflected in the discourse of our leadership bodies,” Hazen wrote.

Among them is improvements to the Municipal Court that would include potentially acquiring new space and renovating the new space and existing space in the Civic Center basement for a total of $1.6 million.

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“The Great Falls Municipal Court is facing a significant backlog in cases and processing that was substantially increased by restrictions deemed necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Projects that allow courts to address backlogs caused or exacerbated by the pandemic are specifically noted as eligible expenses by the Department of the Treasury. Opportunities to expand the capabilities of the Municipal Court are rare. An investment in the court that would increase the physical and human resources available would be an invaluable asset to the city in recovering from the
pandemic and moving in to the future. These projects would be harmonious with the goals and intentions of the crime task force,” Hazen wrote.

The proposed list includes other improvements to the Civic Center as well as improvements for the Mansfield Theater, which has long been a need and desire of city staff and some commissioners, as well as public groups including the Great Falls Symphony.

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The proposed improvements total about $1.55 million and would be eligible for the federal funding under the guidelines, Hazen wrote, since funds are able to be used to respond or mitigate the pandemic or allow tourism businesses to complete projects that were interrupted or delayed by the pandemic.

The Mansfield took a hit during the pandemic as most shows and events were canceled and the operation is an enterprise fund, meaning it relies on funds from services, rentals and fees.

Hazen is also recommending about $2.9 million in projects at Great Falls Fire Rescue to include remodeling fire stations, adding two ambulances and replacing the washer/drier at all the stations.

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Hazen didn’t include public works projects in the prioritization list since commissioners seemed interested in using funds from the federal infrastructure bill that is being negotiated in Congress. Hazen wrote that he would not recommend relying on those funds since the guidelines on how they’ll be distributed and to what communities has not been decided.

“ARPA allows substantial discretion in investments in water and sewer infrastructure projects. Additionally, public works programs create the widest immediate benefit to the largest population immediately upon completion. If the City Commission were to identify an eligible water and sewer program it would immediately join this list,” Hazen wrote and included several specific projects for consideration.

Hazen’s priority list would leave about $300,000 for project cost increases or for the public grant application program if the commission chooses to pursue that.

This is Hazen’s full list as provided to the commission in a December memo: