Rita Vigor, Carbon County Economic Development Specialist, visited the Helper City Council on Thursday evening during a regularly scheduled meeting to present a memorandum of agreement for an EPA Brownsfield Grant for approval. An initial meeting regarding this grant took place at the county building recently and since then, Vigor has began to work in conjunction with each of the municipalities for Helper, Wellington, Price and East Carbon.
In the grant application, it was stated that as part of the requirement, there would be an assessment for a parcel within each municipality. The memorandum states that, as the applicant county, each city would be included. Signing the memorandum means that Helper wishes to be a part of the process and would follow the guidelines for submitting nominated properties.
Working with the grant, money can either be requested ahead of contractors, consultants and the like or be reimbursed afterward. Vigor stated that in talking with the county commissioners and clerk, it was decided to submit for payment prior to having to pay an invoice to the contractor, meaning that no monetary means would be required from the municipalities.
After speaking with each municipality, Vigor informed the council that a meeting will be called for each of them to be walked through the process. Vigor also stated that the grant is for an area that the city could use but has been contaminated in some way. This grant will afford a cleanup process to be done in the area. The logistics of what properties can and cannot be applicable will also be discussed.
Also stated by Vigor was that once everything has been submitted, she will re-approach each municipality to form a reviewing committee. However, each signature must first be gathered on the memorandum or the EPA will not pay any funds. The last meeting Vigor needs to attend to secure all signatures will be on Nov. 14 and she is anticipating the last week in November to begin the next step.
The council members made a motion to sign the memorandum, which was then approved.