January 10, 2008
County Commissioners Put Hold on EDA Grant Application

Photo by Dave Maxwell County Commissioners discussing what todo with EDA grant application for Alamo Industrial Park.

By Dave Maxwell

After realizing that Lincoln County could not match the needed amount for a $2.3 million Economic Development Authority grant request, County Commissioners on a 3-2 vote, at their regular semi-monthly meeting January 7, decided not to apply for the grant at this time. Plans were to use the grant monies for on-site infrastructure at the Alamo Industrial Park. This reverses a 4-1 vote by the Commissioner in early December to go for the grant.

County Grant Administrator, Phyllis Robistow, pointed out to Commission members that signing the EDA grant application, with a deadline of January 11, 2008, obligates the County to spend the grant money and to present the matching funds of $1,550,000. Currently, the County is $905,000 short of the match money needed. An added concern Ms. Robistow pointed out, is that should a County default on the match money, the EDA looks very unfavorably upon the County thereafter, and would most likely deny any further requests for grant assistance. Not taking the EDA grant at this time, Ms. Robistow said will give the County extra time to search for additional match money, “An opportunity to keep looking,” she said.

Commissioner Wade Poulsen, who was in favor of applying for the EDA grant, said he felt that the County needs to show they are willing to do something now, or it won’t get done later, either. Tommy Rowe also favored going ahead with the grant application.

After lengthy discussion, and with divided opinions, the vote was against taking the grant. It would be too risky to put the County in a position of defaulting for match money it does not have on hand.

Commissioners decided they would continue with the purchase of the 228-acres from the Bureau of Land Management at the Alamo Industrial Park, as had been planned at the December meeting when they first voted to apply for the EDA grant. That idea was one of three options County Manager, John Lovelady, had presented to the Commission. It stated the County would buy the land in Parcel A and then sell it to interested developers. The burden of putting in the infrastructure to the land would be upon the developers themselves, not Lincoln County.

After buying the 228-acres, the County will seek to have as much preliminary engineering work done on the land as they can with grant money that already exists. Phyllis said, “After we see what the preliminary work says, it gives us some perspective. Then John Lovelady, Clint Wertz, Ken Dixon and I, can sit down with some results and see what we really need and proceed from there for grants, because then we’ll know what we have.”