Federal relief money should cover most of the county’s portion of a multi-million airport infrastructure project.
Allen County commissioners and Thrive Allen County representatives dug into the requirements of a $3 million Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) grant awarded last week by the Kansas Department of Commerce for airport infrastructure improvements.
The county’s portion of the grant was tabbed at $968,965. The county is obligated to pay 25% in matching funds for the total project, which is $4 million.
Turns out, the county already has a project waiting in the wings that will cover more than two-thirds of that cost.
Commissioners had already promised $641,000 to help Rural Water District No. 8 improve water lines and install a new 4-inch line and fire hydrant to the Allen County Regional Airport.
The county was looking at doing similar work as part of its infrastructure project at the airport, but found the water district’s plan would cover much of it but at less cost.
The money to pay for the RWD No. 8 water project will come from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA); Allen County received $2.4 million in ARPA funds.
The county can also count what it spends on the water project to pay for its portion of the matching BASE grant.
That leaves just $327,965 for the county’s portion, which they can spread out over the next three budget years.
But commissioners said they’d like to find a way to use more ARPA funds to pay for the airport project. Ideally, they could avoid taking any money, or at least very little, directly out of local taxpayer coffers.
That’s not quite possible yet, as the county’s ARPA wish list exceeded the budget by about $352,239.50. Commissioners on Tuesday trimmed a couple of projects worth about $260,000, and looked at other areas where they might save money.
The county has multiple funding options to pay for the matching funds as required by the BASE grant. Commissioner David Lee suggested using money the county receives each year from the Prairie Queen Wind Farm as a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT).
“The long and the short is that ARPA can take care of $641,000 at the very least, and the remaining $327,000-plus, we can take care of in multiple places. Either ARPA, or PILOT dollars or capital funds,” Lee said.
IN OTHER news, commissioners:
Approved a price increase of 50 cents per ton for tipping fees at the Allen County Landfill. The landfill charges a per-ton fee between $25 to $27 to 13 area counties that dump items there, and $51.50 to counties outside the region. The landfill also charges for special waste items, such as medical waste and railroad ties.
Discussed responsibilities that have fallen to the county appraiser’s office after the retirement of Terry Call, who handled a wide variety of zoning permits as well as the county’s addressing system and other jobs. There have been some problems with permits for septic tanks, which fall under the “Local Environmental Protection Plan.” County Appraiser Jami Clark said her staff has received several calls about the permit process, and she’s sending most of them to county counselor Bob Johnson in the absence of Call.
Commissioners said they haven’t had success finding someone to fill all of Call’s duties, but they would put that “on the front burner.”
