Garfield County second-quarter discretionary grants announced

$10,000 also awarded to Roaring Fork Conservancy for local water issue studies

PRESS RELEASE
May 14, 2018

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County has announced $45,500 in grant awards for the second quarter of 2018.

Out of the Discretionary Fund, the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners awarded $23,000 overall, including $5,000 to support the Rifle Rendezvous festival; $5,000 for the Glenwood Springs Summer of Music concert series; $5,000 for the New Ute Theatre Society for programming and marketing of community entertainment; $4,000 for Mount Sopris Historical Society toward the Coal Basin Monument, honoring locals who died in mining accidents in Coal Basin; $3,000 for the Glenwood Springs Youth Hockey Association to fund scholarships for youth to take part on local teams; and $1,000 to the Garfield County Shooting Sports Council toward youth participating in the 2018 4-H National Shooting Sports competition.

From the county’s Human Services Mini-Grant fund, $5,000 was allocated to the Western Slope Veterans Coalition for veterans’ services, including acquisition of medical equipment, paperwork and benefit assistance, and legal services. Advocate Safehouse Project received $2,500 for the promotion of Mountain West Gives – Colorado Gives Day (Dec. 4, 2018) that raises funds for nonprofits.

The Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment received $5,000 from the county’s Nonprofit Educational Fund toward projects in classrooms from Glenwood Springs to Parachute, and broadcasting-specific projects in partnership with KSUN Community Radio.

The Lower Valley Trail Association was awarded $5,000 from the county’s Conservation Trust Fund for advocacy and grant-writing activities. The Roaring Fork Mountain Biking Association received $5,000 from the same fund for trail-building projects in New Castle.

The second quarter allocations leave $33,500 remaining in the Discretionary Fund for the third quarter grant cycle.
Roaring Fork Conservancy awarded $10,000
The Roaring Fork Conservancy (RFC) was also granted $10,000 from the county’s Nonprofit Discretionary Fund toward local water health studies.

Rick Lofaro, RFC executive director, told the board that $9,000 will be used for an ongoing stream health study on Cattle Creek, which is listed as an impaired, or a 303(d), waterway by the state based on macroinvertebrate data. Another $1,000 will be allocated toward work on the Roaring Fork Watershed Plan. Those amounts were already set in the 2018 budget.

The grants funds, as well as the RFC request, were passed by the BOCC unanimously, 3-0.