Montana City, Clancy rank high for ARPA funding

The Montana City School and Clancy Water and Sewer District will likely receive funding for proposed water projects through competitive grants offered by the state with money from the American Rescue Plan Act; the Basin Water and Sewer District is unlikely to receive funding, as is a proposed wastewater project in Clancy.

A drinking water system project proposed by the Montana City School ranked first out of 243 grant applications, according to a preliminary ranking list the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation released on Aug. 16. Clancy Water and Sewer District’s proposed drinking water system ranked 28th. Both of those projects are likely to receive funding, according to Collette Anderson, an engineering and project manager with Great West Engineering who works with the Clancy district board and crafted its grant applications. She said that the state has $250 million to disburse in competitive ARPA grants, starting with the highest ranked-grant and moving down the list.

“You hit $250 million right around project number 59 or 60,” she said, meaning that projects ranked lower than 60th were less likely to receive funding.