Cascade County held a public needs hearing last week as part of the process to receive funding through the Montana Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant program.

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and allows for eligible projects to make competitive applications for funding under three categories: public facilities, housing and economic development.

Cascade County may have one open project in each category at a time.

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Currently, there are no available projects in public facilities but there are openings for a project in both the housing and economic development categories, according to Mary Embleton, county budget officer.

Application deadlines for these programs will be announced by the state commerce department in the coming months.

The county doesn’t get a set allocation for CDBG like the City of Great Falls and other municipalities do.

For counties, it’s a competitive grant process and success depends on the project application.

The maximum amount has been $450,000 per project, Embleton told The Electric.

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During the Jan. 25 commission meeting, speakers said needs included housing, public safety and economic development.

Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said the jail needed improvements. Several people talked about the need for housing and homelessness issues.

During the meeting, the commission also took comment regarding the use of the county’s allocation of American Rescue Plan funds, which are federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Cascade County has been allocated $15,804,392 in direct state and local fiscal recovery funds from the federal government, Embleton said.

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Half of that, or $7,902,196 was received in May 2021.

Cascade County has also been allocated $1,787,464 as a minimum allocation through the state to be used for water and sewer infrastructure projects.

During their Jan. 25 meeting, commissioner approved $2,975,522.50 to go towards water and sewer projects contingent upon successful funding from the state.

The state requires a one-to-one match for the funding.

“The commissioners have stated their commitment to maximizing the match leverage required by the state in order to get the most effective use out of the ARPA funds,” Embleton said.

Commissioners approved the following projects for the funds:

The Town of Cascade withdrew their request for funding, according to the county.

Commissioners also approved $650,000 for the Baatz Block Apartments housing project by NeighborWorks Great Falls, contingent upon successful funding from other sources.