County interviewing for grant-funded Sentinel position
Cascade County Commissioners have scheduled interviews for April 2 for the community installation liaison position for which they received a federal grant for last fall.
Commissioners are scheduled to interview five candidates.
The interviews may be conducted in closed session, under state law, since the Cascade County Attorney’s Office determined these interviews could be done privately if the applicants asserted their privacy rights.
The recent public health officer interviews were conducted publicly due to their significant public interest, according to Cascade County Commissioner Joe Briggs.
One of the five candidates, James Oakley, didn’t assert his privacy rights, Briggs said, so his name is spelled out on the meeting agenda.
The other four candidates are identified by initials: A.M., J.F., W.D. and D.H.
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Briggs said that the candidate review process to this point was conducted by the Human Resources department and commissioners would be provided their names and applications on March 31.
Commissioners voted unanimously during a Sept. 9 meeting to accept a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation to fund a temporary community installation liaison for the Sentinel project.
The community economic adjustment assistance for advance planning grant provides $179,949 with a $20,058 in-kind county match over 18 months.
The grant includes six deliverables to be completed by March 2027:
- a communications strategy plan
- a community readiness implementation plan
- develop a community infrastructure priority needs list for the Sentinel project
- create informative briefing materials pertaining to the grant scope during the grant term
- formalize the Central Montana Defense Coalition Sentinel Project Task Force
- develop and implement a performance measure reporting system
The grant will fund a temporary full-time Cascade County employee who will report directly to the commission as well as most of the travel and other expenses associated with the effort.
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Commissioner Joe Briggs said in September that the county will manage the grant, but it will focus on all of the counties, cities and entities within the Malmstrom Air Force Base missile field.
Asked about the six-month delay in filling the position, Briggs told The Electric on March 31 that the county wasn’t required to pause during the federal shutdown but opted to do so while awaiting final grant documents.
Briggs said the federal granting agency is aware of the delay in hiring for the position and “we are not concerned with getting an extension if necessary.”
He said the grant is a “first phase in a process that will be ongoing for several years.”
Other than Cascade and Lewis and Clark counties, the others included in the Malmstrom missile field are “rural counties with small populations and constrained resources that will make their ability to manage the significant impacts of the modernization very difficult,” according to the county staff report.
The county position will work with Lt. Col. John Mayer, commanded of the Sentinel Site Activation Task Force, Detachment 11, which was established in April.
The grant “supports Cascade County, Montana, and regional partners to coordinate the necessary adjustments to local public services and infrastructure for the Sentinel system at Malmstrom AFB and its missile field. This initial effort will enhance the lines of communication between the missile field counties, local government entities and the Air Force in support of the [Secretary of Defense] priority to modernize the nuclear triad, ensuring strategic deterrence and rapid global strike capabilities,” according to the grant documents.
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Briggs said in September that the grant stemmed from discussions between the county, Great Falls Development Alliance and Patrick O’Brien, OLDCC director, regarding potential impact to the region from the Sentinel upgrade.
Briggs said in September it’s expected to be the “first in a series of grants related to mitigating the impacts of the missile system conversion and will allow the region to better understand the project, identify concerns and allow OLDCC to help us develop a strategy to overcome the hurdles and ensure the Sentinel project’s successful implementation in a way that enhances the entire region of the Malmstrom missile field.”
The county posted the position with a $75,000 salary and the following requirements:
- bachelor’s or associate’s degree in business, public administration or political science, or relevant field;
- minimum of four years of management experience;
- minimum of two years of supervisory experience, or a combination of experience and training that provides an equivalent scope of knowledge and skills;
- or equivalent combination of education and experience relevant to the position totaling six years with minimum of one year supervisory experience;.
- minimum of three years working with the military, government agencies or training environment is preferred
- minimum of three years of related experience in mission coordination, training systems or operational support roles is preferred.
The federal office has previously provided local funding for a regional economic diversification study, the Malmstrom joint land use study, the Malmstrom compatible land use study and the $10 million grant to the City of Great Falls for the new indoor aquatic and recreation center.
The Air Force is hosting Sentinel town halls this week including one in Great Falls at 6 p.m. April 2 at West Elementary School.
