Blaine County Commissioners have less than a month to decide on a list of county projects that most deserve federal funding.
During a meeting at the Old Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey on Monday, the board discussed possible funding priorities with Washington, D.C., lobbyist Ken Lee, whom the commissioners hired last fall. Lee, who maintains a part-time residence in the Wood River Valley, officially began working for the county on Jan. 1.
His other clients include local governments in Utah and Colorado.
Speaking to the commissioners, Lee explained the process by which he will work with the Idaho congressional delegation. For Blaine County, he said, he will work closely with the staffs of Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.
Lee said the deadline for submitting funding requests to Craig and Simpson's offices is Feb. 11.
During previous meetings, the commissioners have highlighted a number of projects they believe are appropriate for federal funding. Those include the costly remodeling of the Old Blaine County Courthouse, a water study by the U.S. Geological Survey to evaluate water resources in the upper Big Wood River and Silver Creek basins, emergency communications and construction of a centralized wastewater treatment facility.
Lee, who described the courthouse funding as "a reasonable, doable request" during a meeting in November, said funds for the project would likely come from the U.S. Department of Interior's "Save America's Treasures" account. He said the account would require matching dollar-for-dollar funding from the county.
"What I need to know from the board (of County Commissioners) is what match are you willing to make?" County Administrator Mike McNees asked.
So far, the commissioners haven't stated a level of matching funding the county could afford to allocate for the remodeling project.
Kathryn Goldman, project coordinator for the Hailey-based Wood River Land Trust, spoke to the commissioners in support of the USGS water-assessment study on the Big Wood River. Goldman said the study would consider a number of issues, including flood control and floodplain function.
"That sounds like a real good one to me," Lee told Goldman and the commissioners.
Jim Fackrell, executive director of the Blaine County Housing Authority, highlighted another possible funding request the commissioners are considering. If the request were successful, Fackrell said, he'd like the housing authority to offer a down-payment assistance program for potential homeowners on the group's housing list. He said the program would act as a revolving loan fund and could offer down-payment assistance from as little as $5,000 to as much as $50,000 depending on the applicant's salary level.
Of course, just asking for federal funding by no means guarantees a successful outcome, Lee reminded the commissioners. He said that during its past appropriations cycle, Congress had to wade through 35,000 funding requests.
Lee said many requests are just partially granted.
"It is very rare that you get (all of) what you've asked for," he said.
Lee said the county should consider this fact as part of its overall funding requests strategy.
"Ask for what you need and what you can use," he said. "Think big."
In the end, the commission set its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29, as a tentative date to finalize funding requests.
