Dave Laney with Stantec Consulting visited the Carbon County Commissioners on Wednesday evening to present them with an update on the Carbon County Property Reuse and Revitalization Program, otherwise known as the Brownfield Grant.
In April of 2018, $600,000 was awarded to the county from the US Environmental Protection Agency. The application for the Brownfield Community with Assessment Grant included a coalition with cities of Helper, Price, Wellington and East Carbon. It is 100% grant funded with no matching funds required. This grant is available from October 2018 to September 2021. The grant funding may be used for sites impacted by petroleum and/or hazardous substances.
However, the grant may also work with other properties as well. It is essentially a program that is an effort to identify, plan for, and provide funding and technical assistance for property owners that wish to re-use and re-develop their property.
The commissioners were walked through the steps following the application process. The grant will also pay for site-specific cleanup planning and will allow for the creation of a plan with several different cleanup options, including cost and time for each. The key steps include an Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) to begin with. It is followed by ESAs, an analysis of the Brownfield cleanup alternatives, a corrective action plan, corrective action, a possible no further action determination and to redevelop the site.
Thirteen sites have been nominated. Five are in Price, four are in Helper, three are located in Wellington and one is in East Carbon. Seven sites have thus far been approved. Two proved ineligible and four were withdrawn or have not had access agreements signed. A phase one ESA has already been completed with an approval of a phase 2 ESA and three regulated building material surveys coming.
At this time, 44 percent of time has elapsed (16 months) and 21 percent, or $122,767, of the funds have been spent. Laney stated that they are behind where they should be with the rate of which the money is being spent and in the next 20 months of assessments need to be completed either twice as fast or in twice as many amounts.
Laney recommended enhancements to the existing web page, additional publicity such as distributing flyers and printed info, as well as asking the mayors to designate a second in command to assist with publicizing the program. He spoke on meeting more, putting together a newsletter, completing further assessments and to get the idea out that the program does work. He suggested that the commissioners aggressively decide on the two area-wide plans and get started on them.
Those that believe their property qualifies may view information about the grant and nominate their property for a free assessment by clicking here. The point of contact at the county for more information is Rita Vigor, Economic Development Specialist, who may be reached at (435) 636-3295.