At the close of its June 6 meeting, the Boulder Development Fund Board agreed to hold quarterly instead of monthly meetings going forward. That modest decision reflected the fulfillment of a big charter: to allocate $500,000 the state gave the city to offset the economic impact of the Montana Developmental Center’s closure.
“This has been tough work to get done,” Boulder City councilor Drew Dawson told his fellow board members. “It isn’t over,” he added, noting the board’s ongoing role in tracking funded projects, “but hopefully the really hard work is.”
The City of Boulder was awarded the money in 2017, and the Development Fund Board convened soon after to oversee its spending. The board reports to the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee — which reports to the Boulder City Council — and works closely with the Montana Department of Commerce, which must approve all fund disbursements.
The projects the board developed in conjunction with the state are contained within 15 statements of work. Some, such as the Jefferson County Recreation Park Master Plan, are already finished. Others, including a website and logo for the City of Boulder and plans to expand City Hall, are underway.
Six statements of work, including development of a Boulder River trail, remained unapproved as of June 6, but the board has indicated that the State has signaled no concern with any of them. The board has faced a June 30 deadline for allocating the entire $500,000.
Dawson told the board that in a phone call the previous day the Department of Commerce had been “incredibly helpful” as the allocation process was winding down and had allayed a concern of the board by granting its request to increase the proportion of the funds spent on planning and administrative expenses from 10% to 20%.
Though the board was formed before his election to the City Council, Dawson has for a number of months been leading the group with support from Tom Harrington and others from the Jefferson Local Development Corporation.
